“Muscular MASCULINITY is reinforcing itself in the realm of SECURITY” Toni Haastrup & Lina Gálvez

🎧 In the spirit of #IWD2026, listen to the latest episode of FEPS Talks focusing on #FeministForeignPolicy with Lina Gálvez, FEPS Vice-President and MEP and Toni Haastrup, Chair in Global Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester.

🌎 ♀️ As debates around multilateralism intensify and the global order shifts, rules we thought were here to stay are suddenly under threat. #FeministForeignPolicy can open a pathway to embed gender-responsive, justice-oriented thinking and an accountability framework into international relations, and to rethink what security, cooperation, and power should look like.

In this conversation, Lina Gálvez, FEPS Vice-President and Chair of FEPS Scientific Council; S&D MEP and Chair of Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, and Toni Haastrup, Professor and Chair in Global Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, discuss #FeministForeignPolicy in depth.

Foreign affairs is still designed with masculine power at its core, and feminists, especially women and the LGBTQIA+ community, continue to be underrepresented in this area – despite evidence proving a positive effect of diverse negotiation teams. They also warn about the growing anti-gender backlash and the political efforts to weaken democracy by targeting feminist movements.

At a time of shrinking aid and increasing geopolitical competition, they stress the need for global #FeministSolidarity and renewed commitment to equality and human security.