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.
