"Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that supporting womens rights leads to more security"
I saw nothing calming about last nights speech. It was all alpha male.
Trump’s machismo vs. Sweden’s ‘feminist foreign policy’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-machismo-vs-swedens-feminist-foreign-policy/2017/02/27/3f707478-fd2d-11e6-8ebe-6e0dbe4f2bca_story.html?utm_term=.d64cab8b6855&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
?uuid=fTFmKP0yEeaOvm4Nvk8ryg
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom. (Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
By Katrina vanden Heuvel February 28 at 8:04 AM
..............When it comes to national security, Trump’s ostensible strategy is rooted in jingoism and outward displays of strength. Aside from Bannon, whose unusual role on the National Security Council is a matter of grave concern, Trump has surrounded himself largely with generals (including, until his resignation, Michael Flynn) who enable him to project an image of military might. His policies and statements often seem to be driven by an archaic and self-defeating notion of “toughness”: immigration raids, the border wall, support for torture, even his all-caps tweets. “If we don’t get tough and we don’t get smart — and fast — we’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said in a campaign speech on terrorism. “There will be nothing left.”
I............n contrast with Trump’s machismo, Sweden, which recently began a two-year term on the U.N. Security Council, has adopted what Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom calls a “feminist foreign policy.” This approach puts the pursuit of gender equality at the center of nearly all of Sweden’s foreign policy initiatives, from pushing for more female negotiators in peace talks to supporting international development programs for women and girls. In one case, Wallstrom even pulled out of an arms deal with Saudi Arabia over concerns about women’s and human rights.
Some have charged that a feminist foreign policy is naive, but for Sweden it’s strategic. As Wallstrom said in a 2015 speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace, “Striving toward gender equality is therefore not only a goal in itself, but also a precondition for achieving our wider foreign, development and security policy objectives.” And in December, Wallstrom called on Trump to make gender equality a U.S. priority. “Without it, he will not be able to make America great again,” she said. “It is smart policy. It is not just the right thing to do.”
Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that supporting women’s rights leads to more security. “Over a decade’s worth of research shows that women’s advancement is critical to stability and to reducing political violence,” Valerie M. Hudson and Dara Kay Cohen recently wrote in the New York Times. “Countries where women are empowered are vastly more secure, whether the issue is food security, countering violent extremism or resolving disputes with other nations peacefully.”...................
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