VOICES Blog
WFPG Voices
VOICES, is a forum that highlights the expertise of those who make up and support the organization. WFPG members and partners are invited to submit blog posts on international affairs and foreign policy topics, women's leadership, and career advancement. Posts represent the reflections and personal views of members and guest bloggers and not those of their employers or of the WFPG. Interested in submitting a post? Guidelines | Membership
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The Present is Female
Cathleen Jeanty, Innovation Fellow, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Winner, Student/Young Professional Member Essay Contest, International Women's Day 2024
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The Human Touch in Mentoring Beats an AI Robot Every Time
Jan Hartman, Retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State
Winner, Individual Member Essay Contest, International Women's Day 2024
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Shaping Tomorrow’s World with Feminist Foreign Policy
Riley Sullivan, Student, George Washington University



Ninety-nine years ago, The Foreign Service was created. As The Foreign Service comes upon its one-hundredth birthday, still less than half of the Foreign Service is female. And as the ranks get higher, those numbers get smaller.

For centuries, women have played a seminal role in advocating for a better world: standing on the frontlines of movements for nuclear disarmament, abolition, anti-war policies, voting equality, and human rights. Women have been engaging in ‘everyday diplomacy,’ long before the phrase became a tenant of our international lexicon. The soft skills - the ability to listen, think critically, look through a different lens, and facilitate cooperation - are foundational skills to hone in a world that is becoming more diverse by the day. And women have these skills in droves. 

Women - as a whole - tend to be less isolationist: both politically and professionally. And, in our increasingly globalized world, collaborative approaches are key. 

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once noted that ​​“as a diplomat, you have to be able to put yourself into the other person's shoes. Unless you can understand what is motivating them, you are never going to be able to figure out how to solve a particular problem.”Considering the world is grappling with what is the highest number of violent conflicts since World War II, it is obvious that the current hyper-militaristic, conflict-heavy foreign policy approaches aren't working. 

The Council on Foreign Relations found that the presence of women in positions of leadership can greatly reduce the likelihood of violent conflict emerging and bolster the prospects for the peaceful resolution of existing conflicts. Nevertheless, women are still often left out of many pivotal negotiation and decision-making processes. At last year’s COP28, only 15 of the 133 world leaders in attendance were women. In other powerful rooms, there are no women at all. 

It’s time for more representation in the field of diplomacy. However, that representation will only come when more pathways and pipelines are built for women to enter, stay in, and advance in the field of diplomacy. Once more efforts are made to dismantle systemic barriers, address implicit gender biases that are foundational in the field, create more gender-inclusive policies, and increase representation, we will see more women in diplomacy. 

I envision a world with more high-ranking female diplomats. More female cabinet members. More female heads of state. The first female Secretary-General of The United Nations. And more countries united - not by conflict and mutual enemies - but instead by mutual understanding. 

I believe diplomacy and leadership are no longer about speaking softly and carrying a big stick but instead speaking in a language that allows everyone - regardless of race, class, gender, and creed - to hear you. And breaking your biggest stick into pieces egalitarian enough that everyone has a share.  

Cathleen Jeanty is an Innovation Fellow at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This piece was selected as the winner of WFPG’s Student/Young Professional member essay contest for International Women’s Day 2024.




There are many ways to prepare new students at a college or new young professionals just starting their careers and all the permutations of novices launching themselves in whatever sector or joining a new group. But in my experience by far the most effective way to onboard new people in whatever world or sector is mentoring. One can read all the books and articles, or watch videos or podcasts, or listen to briefings as preparation for starting a new path. But nothing is as powerful as having a fellow human being who has been down that same path before you to mentor you so you will get the most out of this new experience, and likewise the world you are entering will also benefit from a new member who will feel at home.

Mentorship adds the much-needed human touch in today's harsh world, where a relationship grows over time, as the newbie learns from the veteran, can ask any question without shame or fear, take on advice not once but over a period of adjustment and becoming part of the fabric of the new organization. This enriches not only the new member's experience, but also benefits the organization offering mentorship programs because the new members will undoubtedly feel more at home than joining without mentorship, and will, therefore, not only benefit themselves, but it is more likely that the new member will want to engage and give back to the new organization or group because they feel they are now part of the whole.

Beyond just going over how the new organization works, and looking at the governance and where the new member might want to get involved, mentors can also greatly help newbies by introducing them to other members who have been around for a while, and helping to ensure that the new people are not sitting alone at a luncheon or standing by themselves at a cocktail or sitting alone at an event. Expanding the circle of friends beyond just mentor and mentee is truly a gift that is not possible without the human touch of a mentor.

Mentorship makes all the difference in how new members feel about joining a new organization and affects the level of their involvement as well, plus their own enjoyment of being a part of a new group and wanting to contribute to fulfilling its goals.

Jan Hartman is a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer. This piece was selected as the winner of WFPG’s Individual member essay contest for International Women’s Day 2024.




When Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States, Birgitta Tazelaar, once addressed a room of United States security officials, she asked who identified as a feminist. She estimated that about 20% of the room raised their hands. However, when Ambassador Tazelaar then asked who in the room believed in gender equality, every hand in the room went up. Unlike the United States, the Netherlands is one of just fifteen countries that have implemented policies officially dubbed as “feminist foreign policy.” These American officials’ lack of conviction for the term “feminism,” defined as the concept of equality for men and women, was a far cry from the Dutch government’s perception of feminism.

The Ambassador shared this paradoxical anecdote on February 7, 2024, at the Women's Foreign Policy Group event Shaping Tomorrow’s World with Feminist Foreign Policy, held at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and co-organized by Meridian International Center and the Embassy of the Netherlands. Ambassador Tazelaar joined Susan Markham, Director of the Halifax International Security Forum, and Stephenie Foster, Founding Partner at Smash Strategies, in a discussion moderated by Christina Lu, Staff Writer at Foreign Policy. The panelists discussed feminist foreign policy in depth, from its foundational framework to its successes and its challenges in front of dozens of interested audience members.

The term “feminist foreign policy” was first coined in 2014 by Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom and is broadly defined as the consideration of a gendered lens in foreign policy formation. Feminism in foreign policy measures, however, often includes elevating women’s voices in peacebuilding processes, targeting issues that disproportionately impact women, and incorporating input from women’s civil society organizations. Markham and Foster, co-authors of their new book Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and in Practice, posited that feminist foreign policy has no standardized format for all countries. In their book, they break down the core components shared by effective feminist foreign policy and the variation in feminist foreign policy efforts from state to state. They provide examples of the differences in feminist foreign policy initiatives in different nations, like the emphasis on pacifism in Colombia and the Canadian processes that integrate gender-based analyses into all policy areas.

Markham and Foster compared countries like the Netherlands, Colombia, and Canada with the United States. While the U.S. does have specialized areas within existing foreign policy mechanisms to address gender issues, such as the Office of Global Women’s Issues in the Department of State and the White House Gender Policy Council, officials are hesitant to use the term “feminist” in their policy. Furthermore, the isolation of gender issues to specific bodies rather than the integration of gendered perspectives throughout all policy areas leaves these issues underfunded and inconsistently implemented in practice. Beyond that, what policy there is frequently implies that women are monolithic and neglects the versatile roles women play in security issues. Markham illustrated this by noting that women are often treated as victims of violent extremism in policy when, in actuality, they can also be perpetrators in some situations.

Beyond the practical inefficiencies of the U.S.’s incorporation of gender in foreign policy, Ambassador Tazelaar posited that the lack of the “feminist” label on foreign policy initiatives disadvantages the broader movement toward gender equality. To some, the term “feminism” itself carries a negative undertone that makes anything associated with it, positive or negative, unpalatable. Without the more “radical” term attached to policy, the Ambassador believes that opportunities to push for more unprecedented progress toward gender equality are squandered. As just the second woman to ever hold her job title, the Ambassador strongly supports gender equality in leadership positions, as does the Dutch government at large. The Netherlands has set goals of having women hold at least half of all ambassadorships and consulate positions by the year 2028 and has instated a mentorship program for women diplomats.

Despite progress, the future of feminist foreign policy is volatile. All of the panelists were skeptical of the average person, Dutch or American, knowing what feminist foreign policy is, let alone vocalizing their support for it. Moreover, in a constantly shifting political climate, feminist foreign policy is not a guarantee between elections and administrations. Even Sweden, the first state to establish a feminist foreign policy agenda, has rolled back this decision due to the “divisive” nature of feminism. To keep progressing toward feminist foreign policy goals, Ambassador Tazelaar emphasized the need for hard data to back up the benefits of utilizing feminist foreign policy in areas like national security, international development, and economic growth. Foster also stressed the importance of gendered policy analyses to avoid critical gaps in policy as a whole.

Ultimately, though, the de-stigmatization of feminism as a theory would solidify a strong future for feminist foreign policy. Only once every hand in a room of security experts and average citizens alike confidently raises in support of feminism can gender equality in foreign policy be realized.

Riley Sullivan is a student at George Washington University and a programs intern at WFPG.