At a time when prominent voices in the U.S. foreign policy community – from both sides of the aisle – are calling upon the United States to take a new approach towards China, many are putting forward new ideas to define what a "new era" would look like. An increasingly timely discussion has revolved around making more direct connections between gender equality and national security – a "Feminist Foreign Policy."
On September 18, 2020, the National Committee held a virtual Congressional staff briefing with Stephenie Foster, Sarah Kemp, and Wenchi Yu, about feminist foreign policy and what its implementation could mean for the evolving U.S.-China relationship.
Below are the five key takeaways from the presentation.
- People should not confuse a feminist foreign policy (FFP) with a soft approach. While part of a feminist foreign policy is understanding that diplomacy is our first line of engagement in conflict resolution, it in no way says we should never engage in armed conflict. It is about undergirding those decisions based on the impact they will have on everyone.
- One of the things we think about with respect to a feminist foreign policy is broadening the issues that are seen as a part of national security and foreign policy. For example, we are currently seeing that important issues like global health and climate change are very important to national security.
- The key U.S. decision-makers on China policy – those dictating the terms of a relationship that has a consequential impact around the world – all look the same: white men. This has an effect on how they deal with gender issues and beyond.
- A strong FFP would be a holistic approach that uses data to avoid unintended consequences. For example, only 55 percent of women are engaged in the labor market, versus 78 percent of men. A recent McKinsey report said adding women to the global labor force at the same rate as men could add $12 trillion to global growth. In order to create functional policies, there has to be data that looks holistically at the economy and breaks down gender gaps.
- Recommendations for feminist trade policy would be to focus on small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) because they show greater resilience and hire more people, including women and other diverse population groups; SMEs in both the United States and China also happen to be mostly run by women. In terms of U.S.-China engagement at the government level, it starts with local officials. A majority of mayors and deputy mayors in China are women and they oversee healthcare, climate, public health, and more. A dialogue between a group of mayors and deputy mayors from both countries could be very beneficial.
SPEAKERS
|
Your contribution makes events like these possible, please donate to the National Committee.