Importance of Gender in International Relations

One of the major issues that have characterized international relations (IR) discourse is the role and significance of gender.  Steans (2006) states that gender issues in international relations (IR) are usually very controversial and highly political.  The controversy associated with this issue is attributable to the fact that gender IR is an increasingly political issue.  This paper focuses on examining the role and significance of gender in international relations given the increased controversy and politics surrounding it.  This paper demonstrates that gender is an important issue in IR, especially with the increased role of men and women in world politics.  The first part shows that gender relations are crucial in international law and politics.  The second part shows that incorporating both genders in IR discourse helps in establishing fair social policies and inclusive peace strategies.  The third part will demonstrate that gender plays a major role in formulating policy agenda in international relations.  The paper concludes that gender is important in IR in terms of formulation of policy agenda, international law and politics, and development of inclusive peace strategies and social policies.

 As previously indicated, gender has become a major issue in international relations discourse as highlighted in the increased controversies that have dominated international politics.  Gender is significant in international relations for various reasons or ways including…

The first way with which gender is important in international relations is through its role in international law and politics.  Shiraev & Zubok (2015) states a feminist perspective demonstrates that gender relations play a crucial role in international law and politics.  For a long period of time, international law and politics has been exclusively centered on masculinity through emphasis on power, use of force, and eventual war.  During this period, the values and expectations of women have mostly been ignored.  However, significant progress in past century towards the establishment of a legal framework for gender equality, humanitarian issues and civil rights has changed this trend.  Modern international law and politics has focused on protecting the rights of women given that they are usually the most commonly affected people during social and ethnic conflicts.  As international law and politics has become increasingly dominated by the need to safeguard women’s values and expectations, gender relations have taken center stage in international relations discourse.

The emerging feminist perspective in international relations has placed women at the center of international law and politics (Buskie, 2013).  This perspective highlights how women are affected by existing structures and behaviors in the international system and legislative framework.  This information is in turn utilized to explore and develop ways through which international relations theory and discourse is restructured in a gender-neutral manner.  Gender relations play an important role in international politics issues like global economy and war.  In the recent past, there have been numerous efforts to develop various IR bodies that focus on theoretical and substantive research relating to women (Youngs, 2004).

Secondly, incorporating gender in international relations is viewed as a crucial element towards establishing fair social policies and inclusive peace strategies (Ivanov, 2012).  Men have traditionally acted as the major perpetrators and negotiators of peace and war in international relations.  On the other hand, women and children have suffered the most in any social, political and ethnic conflicts.  Additionally, while women and children have suffered the most, women are under-represented in peace mediation efforts.  Gender plays an important role in IR through ensuring women are well represented in social policy measures and peace strategies.  Through consideration of gender, international relations provide a platform in which men and women assume a major role in peace mediation efforts and formulation of social policies. 

As part of promoting the establishment of fair social policies and inclusive peace strategies, the consideration of gender in international relations help in ensuring that both men and women are incorporated.  Incorporating gender into IR helps in dealing with male dominance and dealing with the belief that IR is a male discipline.  Additionally, this helps in ensuring that the discipline does not place more emphasis on women at the expense of men.  Gender helps in establishing fair social policies and inclusive peace strategies through highlighting the relational nature of the classifications of male and female in policy making and strategy development (Etten, 2014).  The fairness of these policies and strategies is attributable to the balance brought by the focus on the neutrality of gender rather than a focus on either of the two genders/sexes.  According to Krause & Renwick (2016), gender is an important issue in international relations since it helps in the creation of collective identities in social relations and dealing with inequalities of power.  In essence, the values and expectations of men and women are taken into consideration when developing and implementing policies relating to international relations or dealing with issues in international law and politics.