A feminist foreign policy approach to EU security and defence

Policy Brief

This policy brief examines how to apply a feminist lens to strategies on security and defence. A core demand of feminist movements is the focus on peace and conflict resolution as opposed to hard security, ranging from calls for demilitarisation to pacifism. Several EU member states just recently committed themselves to Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP), yet at the same time increased their defence spending. Is it possible to reconcile those contradictory developments?

In this policy brief, Dr. Annika Rosamond Bergman examines feminist perspectives on peace and security, highlighting how EU member states integrate these principles into their respective FFP strategies. Drawing on her analysis of current EU security and defence strategies—at a time when these issues are taking centre stage in the new EU mandate—she provides recommendations for effectively applying a feminist lens to EU Security and Defence Policy.

In the context of evolving geopolitical dynamics, upholding a values-based foreign policy and embedding feminist considerations and practices into the transformation of the EU’s foreign and security agenda is more crucial than ever

FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY SERIES

This study is the last instalment of our FFP Policy Brief Series, developed in the framework of the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective (FFPPVC), led by FEPS and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, which questions traditional approaches to foreign policy to enable an alternative account of foreign relations from the standpoint of the most disadvantaged. The series provides insights of what might be the most challenging question regarding Feminist Foreign Policy.

The project aims to advance concrete policy recommendations and will build on a multistakeholder feminist foreign policy community, which will gather feminist policy experts