Feminist Foreign Policy: A Roadmap for Turkey? – Bezen Balamir Coşkun
In
2014, Sweden’s Social Democratic Party and Green Party coalition government
identified itself as a “feminist government”, and Foreign Minister
Margot Wallström declared that they would implement a feminist foreign policy (feministisk
utrikespolitik). Following Sweden, Canada -especially under Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau, a self-described feminist- applied feminist approach to
international humanitarian aid. France, too, has since adopted the feminist
foreign policy approach under the name of “feminist diplomacy”. Finally,
Mexico was the first country to adopt a feminist foreign policy approach in the
global south. Further, the necessity of feminist foreign policy has been
debated in the US, the UK, Germany, and the EU. Yet, on October 18, 2022,
Sweden again led the way in announcing that it would no longer use the concept because
the concept has led to diplomatic cooling with many countries, especially in
the Middle East. This decision has opened up questioning of the future of
feminist foreign policy practices in general.
Many
people actually heard the term “feminist foreign policy” for the first time
when Sweden’s conservative right-wing coalition government announced that the
country would no longer pursue a feminist foreign policy. This is evident from
the comments posted under the social media accounts of media outlets reporting
on the announcement of Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Considering that even
the concept of “feminism”, which has a much
longer history than feminist foreign policy, is still at the center of
political and academic debates, it is expected that feminist foreign policy,
which was first articulated in 2014, has not been able to demonstrate a
straightforward approach in both conceptualization and implementation.
To
understand the scope of the term, it is necessary to define feminist foreign
policy. In its most complete form, feminist foreign policy is defined as “a
foreign policy pursued by a state in its interactions with other states and
non-state actors that aims to protect human rights and freedoms by prioritizing
peace, gender equality, and environmental integrity.”
Defined
in this way, the feminist foreign policy includes all policies that aim to
change and transform colonial, racist, patriarchal, and male-dominated power
structures. It envisages the inclusion of the principles of freedom, rights,
and justice in all areas of foreign policy, including defense, diplomacy,
trade, migration, and humanitarian aid. Considering regional and global crises
such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the food, and energy crisis that is
likely to emerge in the short term, and the climate crisis that is expected to
affect the whole world in the medium/long term, the feminist foreign policy
appears as an alternative model for solving regional and global problems.
Feminist
foreign policy is not only about striving for the absence of conflict. It is
about reimagining the political and social structures of foreign policy. This
will lead to solutions to achieve sustainable security, inclusive peace, and economic
development for all. In addition, policies to address gender inequalities at
both the societal and global levels, and to drive reforms in governance and
state institutions, are also fundamental to sustainable development.
Feminist
foreign policy practices start from the assumption that the hierarchical
structure of existing international relations leads to exclusion and
marginalization. Therefore, powerful system actors are responsible for
addressing ethical problems in the international system. If powerful actors
move their focus on the concerns and principles underlying feminist foreign
policy, the international system could be put on a normative footing. Feminist
foreign policy, centered on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325,
“Women, Peace, and Security”, will also contribute to sustainable
peace. Since feminist foreign policy aims to eliminate global inequalities,
especially gender inequality, which are at the root of most conflicts, it helps
the global community achieve inclusive peace. Moreover, given the positive
contribution of women to the success of peace processes and the building of
sustainable peace, a sustainable global security approach will be possible
through feminist foreign policy. In short, if any country is committed to
preventing conflict, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and
promoting peace, it should pursue a feminist foreign policy that focuses on
eliminating inequalities.
When
we look at the history of Turkish foreign policy, we see that foreign policymakers
have strived to protect the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and
national security in a geography overwhelmed by conflict and war. Although the
focus and direction of Turkish foreign policy have changed periodically, the
main foreign policy goals, such as being respected and recognized by European
states and other Western powers, becoming a regional power, and a global actor
in the field of humanitarian aid, have remained the same. From this
perspective, feminist foreign policy can be an essential resource for Turkey to
achieve its goal of becoming a regional and global power.
Contrary
to popular belief, feminist foreign policy, which does not imply pacifism,
argues that state actors should alternate between hard and soft power depending
on the severity of threats. Turkey is currently trying to combine hard power
with soft power in foreign policy and considers soft power areas such as
humanitarian foreign policy, humanitarian aid, and public diplomacy among the
priority areas of its foreign policy. In this context, humanitarian aid
programs carried out by TIKA prioritize the economic empowerment of women and
girls. In its March 8 message published in 2020, TIKA announced that Turkey has
carried out nearly 280 projects for the social and economic empowerment of
women and girls in various countries in the last decade. Through TIKA, Turkey
has been implementing development assistance projects to improve women’s access
to health services and education and projects on maternal and infant health in
countries experiencing conflict and post-conflict processes. In these countries,
Turkey has also implemented projects to support
victims of domestic violence against women.
From
this perspective, in the field of humanitarian aid, which is an essential tool
of Turkey’s foreign policy, we see that Turkey supports efforts to empower
women in social, economic, and political fields and invests in projects in this
direction, as in the case of Canada. Although it is not called feminist foreign
policy, it can be said there are reflections of feminist foreign policy in
Turkey’s humanitarian aid and development practices. Institutionalizing a
feminist foreign policy approach in this field and supporting the participation
and representation of women in humanitarian initiatives at various levels and
positions will help Turkey to achieve its goal of becoming a global actor in the
field of humanitarian aid and international development. At the same time,
Turkey’s support for gender equality in various parts of the world will
contribute to achieving multiple global SDGs, particularly SDG 5. Turkey’s
contributions to gender equality and SDGs through humanitarian aid will
reinforce Turkey’s soft power in the medium to long term.
Another
feminist foreign policy approach that will enable Turkey to achieve its goals
is the feminist diplomacy approach practiced by France and Mexico. Ensuring
gender equality in foreign policy-making processes and diplomacy at all levels,
raising awareness of gender equality in diplomatic missions, adopting the
Women’s Peace and Security Agenda by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and
integrating a feminist foreign policy approach into the preparation of the
National Action Plan will be beneficial for Turkey to achieve its goals of
becoming a global player in its diplomatic efforts in general and in its
mediation efforts in particular. As pointed out by Alemdar and Yinanç,
this
is an easy goal to achieve as Turkey has an experienced diplomatic corps with a
significant number of female diplomats. In short, if Turkey adopts and
implements feminist foreign policy appropriately, women’s participation in
diplomatic processes at all levels will be guaranteed. Thus, Turkey will be
recognized by the international community as a respected normative actor that
can combine hard power with soft power.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bezen Balamir-Coşkun is an international relations scholar who specializes in foreign policy and security. She received her Ph.D. degree from Loughborough University (UK). She has worked in several higher education institutions and research centers both in Turkey and abroad. Since 2016, she has coordinated the Izmir Policy Center, which is a consultancy agency. Most recently she is teaching at TED University as adjunct professor. She has published articles, book chapters, and policy briefs on her areas of expertise. She is also a member of Women in Foreign Policy Initiative.
To cite this work: Bezen Balamir Coşkun, ” Feminist Foreign Policy: A Roadmap for Turkey?”, Panorama, Online, 11 January 2023, https://www.uikpanorama.com/blog/2023/01/11/bbc/
This article has been prepared with the support provided to the International Relations Council and the Global Academy by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Association Turkey Representative within the scope of the project titled ‘Foreign Policy for the 21st Century; Peaceful, Equitable, and Dynamic Turkey’.
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