What does Germany’s feminist foreign policy approach mean while abandoning its anti-militarist approach in its foreign and security policies and prioritizing armament with record budgets?
When Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s first female foreign minister, assumed this position last year, she said that she would work for peace, stability and prosperity in the world and emphasised that she would pursue a “feminist foreign policy.”
This week, Baerbock hosted an international conference entitled “Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy” in Berlin to elaborate on her feminist foreign policy approach and to seek the views of experts who support this approach.
At the end of the conference, representatives of the governments of Germany, Canada, Mexico, Chile, France, France, Sweden, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Albania, Israel and Rwanda, who support the feminist foreign policy approach, issued a joint final declaration. In the final declaration, the parties underlined that gender equality will be of central importance in the foreign policy they will pursue.
Değer Akal from BBC Turkish writes that Baerbock’s feminist approach to foreign policy has been harshly criticised by some opposition politicians, even though it has received generally positive reactions from the public.
“After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, defence issues, sanctions and armaments have become more prominent in foreign policy, which has led to dismissive statements against Baerbock, especially from conservative right-wing and far-right MPs.”
Some say that, in a time of wars and crises, the feminist approach to foreign policy loses its meaning.
However, according to Akal, in his speech at the conference in Berlin, Baerbock responded to the criticisms levelled against him with the following message:
“One thing is clear: The wind is blowing hard in the opposite direction and often in our faces… The developments in Afghanistan are intolerable, but sometimes also in our own country… But we must realise this: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… Stronger because you know you are fighting for the right cause.”
What will be the path?
The coalition government of the Social Democrats with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats in Germany includes a commitment to pursue a feminist foreign policy.
However, according to Akal, the basic principles of this policy, the areas in which action will be taken and the concrete instruments to be used have not yet been determined. The Foreign Ministry is currently consulting with international partners, experts and representatives of non-governmental organisations in order to develop a “guideline of principles.”
“Feminist foreign policy will shape all areas of the German government including Germany’s first National Security Strategy, which is to be finalised by the end of this year,” said Baerbock at a conference in Berlin.
The ministry itself also has a lot of work to do: Only 27 per cent of senior ministry employees are women. One of the ministry’s three undersecretaries is a woman. Although women ambassadors serve in important capitals such as Washington, Geneva, Tel Aviv and Beijing, only 43 women represent Germany abroad.”
What are the expectations?
Beatrix Austin, the head of conflict transformation at the Berghof Foundation, told Akal, “Feminist foreign policy also requires a very strong awareness of how things work ‘at home’.”
Austin emphasised the importance of recognising the need for reforms in Germany’s own institutions to change the wrong processes and mechanisms. She said that the German government should provide the necessary financial resources and processes for feminist foreign policy and that stable and non-bureaucratic support for local activists working for equality around the world is also crucial.
‘It should not remain at the level of rhetoric’
Reminding that Germany abandoned its anti-militarist approach in its foreign and security policies with the war in Ukraine and prioritised armament with high budgets, Akal underlines that women’s rights groups do not find a feminist foreign policy approach that remains only at the discursive level sufficient:
“Women’s rights activists are following this transformation with great interest and, while they welcome Germany’s adoption of a feminist foreign policy, they are calling for concrete steps to be taken with the necessary financial resources.”