In Sweden, hawkish defense and feminist diplomacy make odd bedfellows
| Brussels
Ever since a brief incursion of Russian warships into Sweden鈥檚 territorial waters in September, fending off a potential fight with Moscow has been a top priority for the Swedish government.
U.S. Navy SEALs linked up with Swedish special operations forces off the Baltic Sea coast in November to practice, among other things, guerrilla warfare in case of a Russian invasion. And in December, the parliament approved a bill to boost the Swedish military budget by 40% between 2021 and 2025 鈥� which the defense minister called Sweden鈥檚 鈥渓argest investment since the 1950s.鈥�
Even as hawks applauded the move, however, it left some supporters of the country鈥檚 signature feminist foreign policy concerned. The expansion of the nation鈥檚 military industrial complex could mark a step backward 鈥� reinforcing, in their eyes, an old-fashioned vision of security wedded to amassing arms and marshaling troops.
Why We Wrote This
How would a country鈥檚 defense priorities change if women played a greater role in determining what constitutes national security and national threats?
鈥淪uffice it to say that, as a feminist, it is always worrying when priorities shift from diplomatic to military means,鈥� says Annick Wibben, professor of gender, peace, and security at the Swedish Defense University. 鈥淲e will be on the lookout for ways this could indicate a further remilitarization of foreign and security policy in Sweden.鈥�
Should this be the case, it is likely to fuel further debate about whether this military buildup 鈥� a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥� for realpolitik aficionados 鈥� is compatible with feminist foreign policy. Given that an expanded military absorbs big money that could be spent on other measures of societal progress, is there such a thing, analysts wonder, as a feminist defense policy?
鈥淭alking about security in a different way鈥�
Sweden became the world鈥檚 first country to declare a feminist foreign policy in 2014. The goal, creators said, is to promote participation of women in politics in general and in peace processes in particular, while at the same time building them up economically. It is also a pioneer of gender budgeting, which routinely takes into account the impact of economic decisions including, say, tax reform, on gender equality.
The new military spending hike, slated to go into effect later this year, will be the nation鈥檚 largest since the dawn of the Cold War. Designed to counter an 鈥渋mminent threat鈥� from Russia, the money will be used to buy fighter jets, artillery, and a new submarine, as well as to grow Sweden鈥檚 forces by 50%, from 60,000 to 90,000 troops.
This military expansion, 鈥渇or the defense community, was an absolute no-brainer,鈥� says Robert Egnell, vice chancellor of the Swedish Defense University. 鈥淚t was clearly a turn to a traditional analysis of the security situation in the region, based on a threat assessment of Russia that鈥檚 really concerning to Sweden 鈥� and I don鈥檛 think they even gave feminist priorities a thought in that.鈥�
From the perspective of women鈥檚 rights advocates, 鈥渢his was a failure,鈥� he adds, noting that there was a sense of 鈥溾�榶ou promised us a feminist foreign policy, and this doesn鈥檛 include using violence for security.鈥欌��
What it should entail, says Corinna Horst, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, is 鈥渢alking about security in a different way. It鈥檚 no longer just boots on the ground 鈥� military stuff and tanks.鈥� It鈥檚 also climate change and radicalization, as well as seemingly domestic issues like the pandemic and migration, she says.
On that last point, for example, when Sweden opened its borders to immigrants in response to the tragedy of the Syrian war, it also potentially affected the status of women in a way the nation had failed to anticipate, says Valerie Hudson, professor of international affairs and director of the Program on Women, Peace, and Security at Texas A&M University.
Stockholm welcomed unaccompanied minors without restriction 鈥� widely agreed to be the right thing to do. But 85% of those claiming this amnesty were men, which has shifted the sex ratio among young adults in the country to 123 men per 100 women. 鈥淣ow they actually have a ratio that鈥檚 far worse than China鈥檚,鈥� which stands at 117 men per 100 women, Dr. Hudson notes.
Higher male ratios are historically associated with a more martial spirit on the international front and, domestically, less socioeconomic mobility for women, and more crime against them, she adds. 鈥淚t morphed into a national security debate in Sweden about, 鈥榃ait a minute 鈥� what have we done to women?鈥欌��
A feminist defense policy?
The hope is that by making more women architects of policy and strategy 鈥� in other words, leaders 鈥� it will keep them from being victims of it. In the Swedish military, this has included an effort to grow female commanders from the ground up.
To show recruits that they鈥檙e striving for gender equality, the government has launched some edgy ad campaigns with slogans like 鈥淐ome as you are鈥� and 鈥淲e don鈥檛 always march straight.鈥� The goal is that by 2025 at least 30% of all new troops will be women, 鈥渂reaking up the male monopoly,鈥� as one official put it.
In the meantime, the draft, which was abolished a decade ago and brought back in 2017, will now include female conscripts. The question is whether all this will lead to new ways of thinking about defense. 鈥淛ust adding more women鈥� doesn鈥檛 inherently change things, says Dr. Horst. 鈥淲omen have been socialized in the same context as men, and can propagate the same social values and norms that we鈥檝e had for years.鈥�
While up until now female leaders have had 鈥済reat impact鈥� within the military in terms of 鈥渉ow inclusive the culture is to diversity,鈥� there hasn鈥檛 been any challenge to the 鈥渋nherent logic of confrontation,鈥� says Dr. Egnell. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say that it鈥檚 had an impact on traditional threat analysis. It doesn鈥檛 mean we look at Russia with a different lens, or that we have a feminist perspective in how we approach defense.鈥�
Yet this is precisely the 鈥渂ig prize,鈥� says Dr. Hudson: for increased female participation to drive 鈥渁 more inclusive understanding鈥� of what constitutes security 鈥� and what constitutes a threat.
As the ranks of women grow, there appears to be a tipping point when strategic thinking starts to change. 鈥淭here鈥檚 solid social evidence that when women reach the threshold of 30%, we start to see differences in decision-making,鈥� says Rachel Vogelstein, director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.
While men are quicker to take risks with lives, for example, they tend to be more hesitant when it comes to taking risks with the economy. The opposite is true for women, she adds 鈥� research born out by the response of woman-led nations like Germany and New Zealand to the coronavirus epidemic, versus male-led nations like the United Kingdom and the United States.
A feminist military posture might put a heavy emphasis on, say, defense procurement, but very little on power projection. 鈥淢aybe women feel less entitled,鈥� Dr. Hudson muses. 鈥淚鈥檓 a mom, and it resonates with me for sure: I don鈥檛 want what you have 鈥� but just try to come into my house.鈥�
