International Relations: An Analysis of Gender Issues

     The current position of women around the world is better than it has ever been, for great strides have been made in gender equality since the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the nineteen-seventies.  But much remains to be done, especially in the Third World and the Middle East, where millions of women are still oppressed by rigid social and religious codes.   

     Women’s issues tend to be ignored by the international community because pressing global challenges and disputes demand so much of the attention of the United Nations and other international organizations.  The U.N., as well as various IGO’s and NGO’s, have been striving for many decades to provide economic assistance to failing states, and dealing with this as well as with famine, civil wars, peacekeeping, environmental concerns, and global trade issues diverts much-needed attention from international issues of concern to millions of women.  (Kissinger 162)

     In addition to IGO and NGO efforts, the United Nations and the international community have made numerous efforts to provide food to famine and poverty stricken regions and peacekeepers to states torn by conflict, which of course benefits women.  But these efforts have met with mixed success in recent years, for in African states such as Somalia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Liberia, warlords have confiscated the food supplies to enhance their power and influence among their people, while in these states and the Balkans, UN peacekeepers have been intimidated and even killed. 

     The political agendas, motivations, and interests involved in dealing with women’s issues in international forums are often sources of controversy, for mutual mistrust between Third World states and the free-market, industrialized nations has prevented significant progress from being made.  Politically, it is in the interests of the West to promote and protect women’s rights, especially in fragile Third World states.  But an impasse is often reached when Third World societies, especially in the Middle East, do not wish to extend certain political, social, or economic rights to women or become Westernized in any way.  (Kissinger 161-172) 

     In regard to international women’s issues, it is evident that one’s theoretical perspective influences the attitudes one has and subsequently determines which actions are supported or resisted.  Westerners and their governments are generally guided by liberalism, and believe that women should have equality. They believe that twentieth century history has proven the value of gender equality and seek to spread the acceptance of equal rights for women around the world.   

     Unfortunately, Western governments motivated by liberalism to extend equal rights to women are often accused by Third World leaders of imperialism and economic greed no matter how selfless their actions may be.  Compounding the problem is the fact that elements in some Western governments do in fact have neo-imperialist ambitions and are motivated to a certain extent by economic greed.   

     Furthermore, in most Middle Eastern states, leaders who subscribe to fundamentalist Islamic views regarding women and their roles resent what they consider to be Western interference in their societies and cultures.  If the West, through the United Nations or any other international group attempts to promote gender equality in any way in their countries, their reaction is often negative and even openly hostile.

     Subsequently, international relations become strained, and international organizations become hesitant to promote gender equality and women’s issues become a low priority for them.  This is unfortunate, but such reluctance has been common for many years, and it is understandable to a certain extent because most international organizations have no means of enforcement.  Defiant states understand this all too well, for the past has proven that the international community is rarely able to unite and take concerted action even in the most serious of crises. 

     The region most in need of women’s rights reforms is the volatile tinderbox of the Middle East, where religious tensions, poverty, illiteracy, economic resentment, and anti-Semitism have combined to nurture the emergence of radical Islamic fundamentalism. (Wright 266-267)  While other states in Southeast Asia, South and Central America, Africa, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union continue to oppress women, the Middle East remains the region of deepest concern, but since Middle East oil is vitally important to the global economy, the Middle East is the birthplace of three great religions, and terrorist ideologies have thrived throughout the region, the international community is reluctant to incite further instability by promoting gender equality.  

      In conclusion, while women’s rights advocates have made much progress through out many regions of the world over the last thirty years, much more needs to be done

by the international community in order to raise women to full equality with men.  Unfortunately for millions of oppressed women, the process of international relations continues to be dominated by other concerns, such as free trade, the resolution of disputes between nations, and environmental issues. 

Sources

    Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

       Wright, Robin.  Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam.  New York: Touchstone Books, 2001.      

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