Women and weapons: Redressing the gender gap

Abstract

In nuclear war, women would suffer at least as much as men. But women tend to be underrepresented in fields—such as high-level politics, diplomacy, military affairs, and science and technology—that bear on nuclear policy. Authors from four countries—Salma Malik of Pakistan (2014), Polina Sinovets of Ukraine (2014), Reshmi Kazi of India (2014), and Jenny Nielsen of Denmark—discuss how women might gain greater influence on nuclear weapons policy and how their empowerment might affect disarmament and nonproliferation efforts.

In Western Europe and North America, gone are the days when a woman who entered a nuclear policy meeting in stylish heels was presumed to be a note-taker or tea-server. Gone are the days when meetings were always dominated by mature Caucasian men.

This is not to deny that gender imbalances remain in the field of nuclear policy. Certain institutions and agencies remain male-dominated, particularly where senior positions are concerned. Younger women involved in nuclear policy often remark that they seem to get saddled with administrative tasks and responsibilities that male colleagues—even if they are junior, or less qualified—manage to escape. Still, at the nuclear-related events (in Western Europe and North America) that I have attended as a young professional or student over the past decade, I have been encouraged by the level of representation afforded to women, whether they are established or emerging experts.

Women are gaining greater representation in the wide spectrum of bodies that are involved in nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, and deterrence. At nongovernmental organizations, international institutions, think tanks, universities, and government agencies, women are exerting real influence over nuclear policy. But additional effort is necessary if gender balance is to improve further; a deeper awareness of gender issues is necessary as well. Though many emerging female experts benefit from support networks, dedicated recruitment initiatives, and mentoring efforts, some stereotypes about gender roles remain. These include the misperception that women are more suitable than men for supportive or administrative roles in nuclear policy—and even sometimes that women are more suitable to addressing disarmament than to handling the technical and strategic issues that surround nuclear weapons.

Overcoming such stereotypes will be good for women, of course, but will also be good for nuclear policy. Today, nuclear weapons policy is largely split into two camps—the deterrence and the disarmament camps. This suggests that nuclear policy could benefit from a diversification of perspectives. Such diversification might lead, for example, to a deeper understanding that issues such as security threats can be colored by differences in perception. A greater diversity of perspectives—whether organized around gender, generation, nationality, or strategic culture—could perhaps relax the entrenched positions that characterize nuclear weapons policy, allowing for constructive dialogue between the deterrence and disarmament camps.

Institutions, networks, outreach

Greater gender equality can be fostered in a number of ways, including through the efforts of institutions. Some multinational nonproliferation organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), actively recruit qualified women for professional posts. The IAEA has established a focal point for gender concerns and has designated points of contact for member states in the recruitment of women. It also gives preference to female candidates over comparably qualified male candidates (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2014). (Think tanks and government agencies could go a long way toward establishing gender balance if they pursued employment practices similar to the agency’s.) As for the CTBTO, Tibor Tóth said while he was executive secretary that:

it is time to get rid of the stereotype that banning nuclear weapons tests and the verification needed to support it, is a man’s world. … We have to work together so that gender balance and gender equality are the norms, not the exception. Brick by brick we are laying the foundations for a world which is more secure and more just as a result of greater gender balance and equality. Security is too important to be left just to men. (Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, 2011)

And indeed, women are gaining more representation in bodies such as the UN Security Council. In June, when Jordan appointed a woman as its Security Council representative, women’s representation there reached a record high of six (Associated Press, 2014). Progress of this sort can go a long way toward opening doors for other women. In June of this year, the five women then serving as Security Council ambassadors participated in a panel discussion, sponsored by the Women’s International Forum, on the role of women in multilateral diplomacy and international security (UN Web TV, 2014). The female representatives recognized their duty to mentor emerging generations of women and the importance of fostering informal support networks for women.

Many phenomenal women in all areas of nuclear policy serve as encouraging, positive role models for new generations of female nuclear specialists. Rose Gottemoeller, Elaine Bunn, Laura Rockwood, Rebecca Johnson, and the late Thérèse Delpech immediately spring to mind as influential female experts who have contributed to nuclear policy. Emerging female scholars and analysts at institutions ranging from universities to nuclear laboratories are likewise contributing their expertise to, and making their voices heard regarding, nuclear issues. Notable are the young women of Reaching Critical Will—the disarmament program of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom—who work tirelessly toward nuclear disarmament. (Also deserving recognition and encouragement are the many progressive men in nuclear policy who give unwavering support to female colleagues.)

But support for emerging female nuclear scholars is often provided by networks that do not focus on nuclear issues per se, but rather promote women’s involvement in the broader fields of foreign policy, multilateral diplomacy, and international security. These include the Women’s International Forum, Women in International Security, and the Women’s Security Society. Some such groupings are regional in nature—and more of these should be encouraged. For example, academics from Australia and New Zealand have formed the Women, Peace and Security Academic Collective, which engages with the UN agenda known as Women, Peace and Security. (This agenda supports implementation of a Security Council resolution that aims to increase women’s role in decision making related to conflict.)

Outreach, another key element of women’s empowerment, is often provided by organizations not specifically oriented toward women at all. At the 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, for instance, the US State Department hosted an interactive discussion entitled “Women of Mass Destruction: Women in Technology and International Security.” Similarly, the 2013 IAEA General Conference included “Women in All Things Nuclear,” a roundtable discussion organized by the agency, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, and the International Network of Emerging Nuclear Specialists (as well as Women in Nuclear).

Another way that nuclear policy’s gender imbalance could be redressed would be if conveners of nuclear conferences and events—frequently, conveners are women—applied a gender-balanced approach when short-listing panelists. Conveners often take pains to ensure broad geographical representation for speakers and participants at conferences—and a similar approach for gender would promote parity. In particular, conference organizers should take note of an initiative of the nongovernmental organization Article 36, which asks male policy experts to boycott all-male panels in order to show their support for gender balance (Article 36, 2014).

As women are further empowered in nuclear policy—particularly younger women, and women representing diverse nations and regions—the global dialogue on nuclear weapons policy can only be broadened and enriched. Gender and culture are often said to influence negotiating strategies and styles of diplomacy—but whether or not this is so, dialogue on disarmament and proliferation will be enhanced if perspectives on nuclear weapons policy are diversified. For the dominant discourse that surrounds nuclear weapons policy to be reshaped, an influx of new thinking is required.