Epistemic status: Although I’m vaguely aware of the evidence on gender equality and peace, I’m not an expert on international relations. I’m somewhat confident in my main claim here.
Gender equality—in societies at large, in government, and in peace negotiations—may be an existential security factor insofar as it promotes societal stability and decreases international and intra-state conflict.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, women’s participation in peacemaking and government at large improves the durability of peace agreements and social stability afterward. Gender equality also increases trust in political institutions and decreases risk of terrorism. According to a study by Krause, Krause, and Bränfors (2018), direct participation by women in peacemaking positively affects the quality and durability of peace agreements because of “linkages between women signatories and women civil society groups.” In principle, including other identity groups such as ethnic, racial, and religious minorities in peace negotiations may also activate these linkages and thus lead to more durable and higher quality peace.
Some organizations that advance gender equality in peacemaking and international security:
I think the instrumental benefits of greater equality (racial, gender, economic, etc.) are hugely undersold, particularly by those of us who like to imagine that we’re somehow “above” traditional social justice concerns (including myself in this group, reluctantly and somewhat shamefully).
In this case, I think your thought is spot on and deserves a lot more exploration. I immediately thought of the claim (e.g. 1, 2) that teams with more women make better collective decisions. I haven’t inspected this evidence in detail, but on an anecdotal level I am ready to believe it.
Epistemic status: Although I’m vaguely aware of the evidence on gender equality and peace, I’m not an expert on international relations. I’m somewhat confident in my main claim here.
Gender equality—in societies at large, in government, and in peace negotiations—may be an existential security factor insofar as it promotes societal stability and decreases international and intra-state conflict.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, women’s participation in peacemaking and government at large improves the durability of peace agreements and social stability afterward. Gender equality also increases trust in political institutions and decreases risk of terrorism. According to a study by Krause, Krause, and Bränfors (2018), direct participation by women in peacemaking positively affects the quality and durability of peace agreements because of “linkages between women signatories and women civil society groups.” In principle, including other identity groups such as ethnic, racial, and religious minorities in peace negotiations may also activate these linkages and thus lead to more durable and higher quality peace.
Some organizations that advance gender equality in peacemaking and international security:
Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
Women in International Security (WIIS)
Council on Foreign Relations Women and Foreign Policy Program
I think the instrumental benefits of greater equality (racial, gender, economic, etc.) are hugely undersold, particularly by those of us who like to imagine that we’re somehow “above” traditional social justice concerns (including myself in this group, reluctantly and somewhat shamefully).
In this case, I think your thought is spot on and deserves a lot more exploration. I immediately thought of the claim (e.g. 1, 2) that teams with more women make better collective decisions. I haven’t inspected this evidence in detail, but on an anecdotal level I am ready to believe it.
Note: I recognize that gender equality is a sensitive topic, so I welcome any feedback on how I could present this information better.