History of Women and International Relations

Historically, when women appeared in international relations it was as symbols of exchange between men, or as pawns between men and nations. An example of this is the marriage between Pocahontas and John Rolfe. The British settlers and the Powhattan confederacy cemented peaceful relations through marriage. This arrangement where a powerful chief gave a young woman of high status or in his care in marriage to a colonial invader as vehicle of diplomacy is seen also in the marriage of Cortez to LaMalinche in Mexico, and of the Dutch governor Jan van Riebeeck to Krotoa at the Cape. In the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, modern day New York, the English settlers in New England came to the harbor in ships to take New York by force. The Dutch were surrounded, but the men inside the fort were unable to surrender because they had vowed to fight, backing down would look like cowardice. To navigate around their pride, they sent two wives to negotiate their surrender. Lydia de Meyer and Hillegond van Ruyven could speak to the English without committing treason, and their rank as the wives of city council members meant that they would be respected by the English. New Amsterdam’s surrender was peacefully negotiated and New Amsterdam became New York.

When the US separated from Britain, an unwritten expectation was that the wives of the nation’s leaders would serve as hostesses to help smooth over the complex social and diplomatic negotiations. First Ladies have served in an unofficial, unpaid job since the beginning of the nation, and their attention to etiquette, careful planning, have made state visits with foreign nations smooth.

Still women were not often at the negotiating table when the language in treaties were discussed. From the mid-1800s onwards, there were early efforts to promote transnational women's peace work, but this wouldn’t really come to fruition until World War I, when the deadliness of war took on a whole new dimension. One notable early example was Julia Ward Howe, an American activist, who called for a Mother's Peace Day after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. In 1873, this day was celebrated for the first time in various American cities, as well as in England, Switzerland, Italy, and France. There were also other early initiatives, although short-lived, such as the efforts of Marie Goegg from Switzerland in 1868, and the establishment of several women’s peace organizations in the late 1890s one by Eugénie Potonié-Pierre and Ellen Robinson and another in Paris by Gabrielle Wiesniewska. This became untenable at the turn of the 20th century as nations seemed hell-bent on militarism and imperialism and the world was on a crash course to World War I. The emergence of a transnational feminist movement developed here.

​In the years leading up to the war, women flocked to Europe to promote peace between nations. Jeanne Mélin, a French pacifist and feminist, attended 30 peace conferences in France during the final months of 1913. She believed deeply that women were the life givers, and as a result, could prevent wars that took life away. The work of Mélin and others of the time had a central message that women had been largely excluded from political affairs, and thus it was argued, perhaps women’s involvement in such matters could help prevent such outcomes. Mélin advocated for using education to stamp out violent behaviors and developed a system of co-education of girls and boys centered on the idea of exchanging masculine and feminine strengths. She joined many pacifists across nations of her era who claimed capitalism was responsible for war, a position that incurred the wrath of capitalists and threatened their lives.

Sensing the impending war, in the days, weeks, and months that followed men and women involved in pacifist efforts went to work. Initially, women’s pacifism focused on condemning war itself as inhumane rather than analyzing the specific political circumstances leading to the war. Then, in July, Jean Jaurès, an outspoken labor leader and pacifist, was assassinated before giving a high-profile address. Mélin was a supporter of Jaurès and was horrified at his death, but the rapidly changing landscape put her in a tailspin. She was frustrated that German pacifists refused to accept German culpability in the conflict and felt pacifism without consideration for socio-political circumstances may not be the best path. By August, her home in France was bombed by the Germans, and for Mélin and other women pacifists, these early months of war served as a transition phase in their philosophical positions on war when war was no longer an abstract, far-away concept. 

Peace activities faced censorship and severe restrictions in all warring nations, while neutral countries provided more opportunities for pacifists to express their disapproval of the war. For instance, in New York, 1,200 women participated in a silent women's peace parade in August 1914. In the same year, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence from Britain and Rosika Schwimmer from Hungary toured the United States, delivering lectures on peace.

​Anti-war efforts led to the establishment of the Woman's Peace Party in Washington, DC, in January 1915, with 3,000 women participating. Their program called for a convention of neutral nations and advocated continuous mediation as a means to reach a negotiated peace. Women marched in all black and wrote letters in their home countries,. One of the most popular songs in America in 1915 was “I Didn’t Raise my Boy to be a Soldier,” as women around the country - and around the world - desperately tried to keep their loved ones from becoming a number in the growing statistics of the war. While some managed to stay neutral throughout, others were inevitably dragged in; like the US in 1917. 

As matters escalated, discussions about an international women's meeting began in Europe galvanized when the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) canceled its scheduled congress in Berlin in 19??. The first discussions were organized by Germany’s first female jurist, Anita Augspurg, and Dutch pacifist Aletta Jacobs. More than 1,000 female delegates came together at the Hague in 1915 to discuss not only the end of this war, but the prevention of wars in the future. These women had to brave political repercussions, hazardous travel, and the risk of entering already war-torn Europe to show their dedication to peace.

During the congress, participants advocated for political rights for women, democratic measures, international arbitration, democratic control of foreign policy, disarmament, free trade, and pacifist education. They viewed equity and democracy as essential prerequisites for a peaceful world order. The congress participants also believed that women's suffrage was necessary for women to have political influence and played on societal norms of motherhood to support their radical political demands.

The congress also led to the establishment of the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP). This committee worked to maintain international communication but faced increasing challenges due to travel restrictions, disrupted mail routes, and financial difficulties throughout the war. National sections of the ICWPP focused on spreading peace propaganda and organizing relief work in their respective countries. Activities in the warring nations faced severe restrictions and opposition from nationalist groups and even other women's organizations. Sadly, their voices were muffled by the ongoing call for supremacy through war from those who wanted no piece of their peace.

Motivations for World War II were indeed building the moment World War I ended. A major cause of the war was the way the first world war was resolved through the Treaty of Versailles: the Allied governments sought to punish Germany by demanding heaving payments, seizing German colonies, and pushing back German boundaries. The Treaty of Versailles forced German people into poverty while the abdicated Kaiser Wilhelm - the German decision-maker of the war - and his family lived in relative luxury. It installed a weak democratic government and built resentment in the German people who looked at this new government and their wartime enemies as the source of all their new ills.

As part of the work that had begun in and around World War I, pacifist women continued to work tirelessly in the two decades between the wars.In 1919, the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace changed its name to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and relocated its central office to Geneva, near the League of Nations. American Emily Greene Balch, a former Wellesley Professor of Economics, became the leader and worked without pay to the organization's ends. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for her work to promote peace and reconciliation.

Another major figure was Gabrielle Duchêne, the French founder of the World Committee of Women against War and Fascism, created in 1934. She, among others, was convinced that only a single union of feminists, united by a sense of internationalism, could wage the war against war. Duchêne continued her work during and after the war. When Nazis later invaded France, she was hunted as a political adversary and sought refuge with friends where she helped people escape Europe. After the war, she left a momentous archive of documents related to women’s peace and labor union work.

In the years between the wars, French pacifist Jeanne Mélin, who had been highly active in World War I, remained central to the discussions of peace and feminism in the build-up to World War II. Moving toward a more radical pacifism, her goal was to prevent war and increase international cooperation in order to democratically resolve issues, long before war ever emerged as a solution. Mélin became active in international relations, exchanging almost 1,000 letters with like-minded women from around the world including Gabrielle Duchêne, Louise Bodin, Jane Addams, Chrystal MacMillan, and even German leaders Gertrud Baer and Lida Gustava Heymann.

​Mélin also refused to accept the Treaty of Versailles, particularly the theory of German culpability, and increased her symbolic and media-related activities in support of Franco-German reconciliation. At a peace conference in Zurich in 1919, she is remembered for shaking the hand of the German delegate Lida Gustava Heymann. In her speech, she refused to condone France’s humiliation of Germany by way of the peace treaties. She proclaimed herself a sister of these women who, like herself, had fought so strongly against imperialism and militarism. Mélin even sent a manifesto to the German people proposing a European economic federation, an idea that was realized decades later with the formation of the European Union in 1993.

Mélin traveled widely in Europe on behalf of the peace organization Ligue International des Femmes pour la Paix et la Liberté (LIFPL). However, this group was seen by people at the time as a distraction from the hard issues of the time - or worse - the product of the weaker sex. Still, their efforts would have lasting impacts beyond the war, laying the groundwork for the international cooperation that followed.

Women peace activists were widely engaged during this period but were often operating outside positions of power and with many of their countries adhering to neutrality and isolationism rather than actions that could potentially avoid future war, peace initiatives were difficult, if not impossible. In fairness, many of these countries had been so devastated and rocked by World War I, that they focused on their own personal rebuilding rather than prioritizing future hypothetical (though likely) wars. Others, who had been spared some of the horrors of World War I, wanted to ensure that they never became entangled in such an apocalyptic event. It was not that they did not want peace, but more that they couldn’t bring themselves to think about war. Nonetheless, this mindset and stance had consequences. For example, in 1922, while a delegation from the Messagères de la Paix, comprising Jane Addams, Catherine Marshall, and Jeanne Mélin, won the support of the Scandinavian countries against French occupation of former German territories, unfortunately, because those countries had declared neutrality, they were unable to take any steps that would put pressure on France.

Further, as the women of these organizations operated outside of power, the almost entirely male Allied governments refused to receive them. When the women proposed reasonable changes to the League of Nation’s constitution, which would improve cooperation over coercion, they were similarly ignored. Other women’s peace groups wanted the League of Nations to be replaced by an international society of nations advocating gender equality, the economic independence of women, the equal sharing of wealth, and respect for minorities. This initiative would not take root.

The international feminist pacifist movement was very active in the mid-1920s, with several organizations hosting conferences to dispel myths propagated by national governments. For example, 19 different peace organizations and societies took part in a parade for peace on Armistice Day (the day peace was established in World War I) in 1931. The parade crossed Paris by bus, and was marked by two symbolic arrests, one at the Etoile on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and another at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

While the ideas they put forth still showed the advanced nature of their thinking regarding peace and world affairs, tensions were mounting in Europe, and the women of these organizations were not able to prevent World War II. During and after the war, their warnings would be taken more seriously and women would be essential in the development of the United Nations, the organization that formed after the failure of the League.

As World War II became the Cold War, women stayed active in peace work.

As war was becoming more of a reality around the globe, women worked tirelessly toward anti-proliferation. In 1959, Members of the Greater St. Louis Citizens Committee for Nuclear Information, along with some schools of dentistry worked to show how radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in Nevada was entering the food and milk supply and significantly impacting children’s health. Women across the country collected and donated 320,000 baby teeth for the research. In 1963, they released the titled “Tooth Fairy” study that showed babies born after testing began were 50 times more likely to have cancer causing chemicals in their teeth.

Bella Abzug and Dagmar Wilson founded Women Strike for Peace, a peace activist group with the goal of stopping nations from nuclear testing to slow down the arms race. On November 1, 1961, Women Strike for Peace got 50,000 women marching onto the streets. It was the largest national women’s peace protest of the 20th century. Leading ladies, Jackie Kennedy and Nina Khrushchev both supported this work. ​Coretta Scott King was a delegate for Women Strike for Peace at the disarmament conference, stating, “We are on the brink of destroying ourselves through nuclear warfare.” King convinced the USSR and the west into signing the Limited Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.  The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was terrifying to live through. It led many people to join the growing peace movement opposed to nuclear proliferation– after all, Earth could not survive a hot conflict between the US and USSR. Claudia Jones became a leader in the peace movement. She was an immigrant communist herself and an outspoken advocate for peace. She believed that war and nuclear weapons were capitalist tools to limit freedom struggles, contain non-white populations globally, and undermine women's liberties. She argued women’s leadership was essential in the peace movement.

This work was incredibly important to disrupting gender norms, women were pushing themselves into topics of national security policy. And on that topic, there were significant gender divides. Only 38 percent of American women supported nuclear testing, compared to 58 percent of men. These examples are crucial reminders that women have always been part of and are necessary for international relations.

Women and the UN

After WWII, women took more official roles in diplomacy than they had before. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as a global policy-making body dedicated to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. The CSW has since been a key platform for discussing women's rights issues, reviewing progress, and developing strategies to advance gender equality worldwide.

The first meeting in 1947 in New York had 15 female government representatives. Eleanor Roosevelt was a crucial figure in the creation of the United Nations (UN) and served as the US delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. At the first meeting, Roosevelt read "An Open Letter to the Women of the World," which is recognized as the "first official expression of women's voices within the UN and a blueprint for the role women should have in a new realm of international politics and collaboration." This letter was initiated by Hélène Lefaucheux from France. Lefaucheux also held prominent positions as the president of the French National Council of Women and the president of the International Council of Women (ICW) from 1957 to 1963. Their combined efforts aimed to promote human rights, social justice, and international cooperation. 

From 1947 to 1962, the CSW focused on establishing standards and formulating international conventions to combat discriminatory legislation and raise global awareness of women's issues. Roosevelt served as the first Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights and was instrumental in advocating for the adoption and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1984. She traveled extensively, both within the US and abroad, to raise awareness and engage in dialogue on human rights issues. The UDHR explicitly recognized the equal rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of gender, and emphasized the importance of eliminating discrimination based on sex. This marked a significant step towards recognizing women's rights as human rights on an international scale.

Recognizing the need for data and analysis to support the legal rights of women, the Commission undertook a global assessment of women's status. This extensive research produced a detailed, country-specific overview of their political and legal standing, becoming the foundation for drafting human rights instruments.

In 1963, the UN General Assembly tasked the CSW with drafting a Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, adopted in 1967. Addressing the disproportionate impact of poverty on women in the 1960s, the CSW focused on women's needs in community and rural development, agricultural work, family planning, and scientific and technological advances. The Commission advocated for the expansion of technical assistance to advance women's rights, especially in developing countries.

In 1972, marking its 25th anniversary, the CSW recommended designating 1975 as International Women's Year, leading to the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City and the subsequent 1976–1985 UN Decade for Women. This period saw the establishment of new UN offices dedicated to women, including the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). It included the legally binding Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) followed in 1979.

In 1987, following the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi, the CSW took the lead in coordinating and promoting the UN system's work on economic and social issues for women's empowerment. Efforts shifted towards integrating women's issues as cross-cutting and mainstream concerns, and the Commission played a key role in highlighting violence against women internationally. This led to the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in 1993, and in 1994, the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

Perhaps the most significant CSW World Conference was the fourth, which occurred in 1995 in Beijing, China. There tens of thousands of women flocked together to craft the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and created systems to monitor it in the decades that followed. The most memorable event from the conference was when then First Lady of the US, Hilary Clinton, addressed the assembly and declared “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women's rights - and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely - and the right to be heard.” But this refrain, which followed a long list of violations too routinely found around the world, was not Clinton’s alone, it also belonged to the grassroots efforts of thousands of women from around the world. Clinton was just the one to popularize it. 

The connections established during those ten days would lead to fresh enthusiasm, goals, and the emergence of novel organizations, such as the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. Out of the eight thousand Americans who journeyed to Beijing in 1995, over a thousand were women of color, affording them the opportunity to engage with and form alliances with 22,000 activists from various nations. It was activists from the Global South, and specifically Africa who put pressure on the UN to focus on socio-economic rights and gender based violence. In 2000, as a result of global feminist efforts, the UN passed Security Council Resolution 1325, which established a framework for Women, Peace and Security, aiming to protect women and girls from sexual violence in wartime and involve women in peace keeping, peace building and conflict resolution processes. The resolution helped launch the framework for subsequent efforts to address women’s rights in wartime and peace across the globe, though results of such efforts were uneven. In fact, this groundbreaking event underscored, unlike anything else, the valuable lessons American activists could glean from their global counterparts. This included insights into the detrimental impacts of neoliberal economic policies and the structural adjustment programs of the IMF and World Bank on women. 

But feminism looked different in different places around the world. And just because the UN said so, it doesn’t mean women gained rights, freedoms, and respect in their home countries be it in the US or Indonesia, or South Africa, for example. Women activists shared their advances and their setbacks across national borders, seeking to define their grievances and refine the language with which they demanded greater equality and agency. Clearly stating the characteristics that defined a feminist was a particularly challenging undertaking, and the very definition of feminism has been disputed and re-cast over the past several decades. But the goals of Second Wave Feminism, while varied among many individuals and groups, nevertheless coalesced around the idea that women’s needs were important, their voices needed to be heard, and their issues, while personal, deserved to be addressed politically.

Women Secretaries of State

Still, the UN relies of the engagement of member nations and nations are still overwhelmingly run by men. Of the 193 member states in the UN, less than a quarter are run by female heads of state and just over a quarter of their domestic parliaments or congresses are made up of women on average. Nations with female Prime Ministers meet regularly to discuss issues effecting their nations. Today, these include Bangaldesh, Iceland, Italy, Aruba, Uganda, and Samoa. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland’s Prime Minister, is also the chair of the UN Council of Women World Leaders.

In the US women have served as cabinet members and Vice President, but only three have held the position of Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is the head of the State Department and responsible for American foreign affairs. This position is also third in line if the president and vice president are removed or die.

The first woman to serve as Secretary of State was Madeleine Albright, appointed by President Bill Clinton, who played crucial roles in many conflicts that are ongoing. Albright had a long career in politics and international relations; she also served as a professor at Georgetown. Albright represented the US as ambassador to the UN from 1993 to 1997 until she was appointed as Secretary of State. During her tenure, Albright was crucial in US policy regarding supporting NATO interventions in the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the growing tensions in the Middle East. Albright negotiated the Dayton Agreement which created a cease-fire in the Bosnian war and supported sending American troops to Bosnia to enforce the agreement. When fighting continued in Kosovo, she supported NATO bombing, leading the media to describe it as “Madeleine's War.”

When it came to the ongoing conflicts in Israel and Palestine, Albright helped shape modern policies. She worked to expand the 1993 Oslo Accords which gave Palestinians self-rule in the West Bank and in Gaza. Then, in 1998, she helped establish the Wye Accords that turned over control of about 40% of the West Bank to the Palestinians. A comprehensive peace however was evasive. Albright and the Clinton administration left office in 2001 with the election of George W. Bush.

Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice[1]

Bush followed Clinton’s lead and also appointed a woman as his Secretary of State. Condoleeza Rice first joined the Bush Administration as a national security advisor under Colin Powell. She was elevated as Secretary under Bush’s second term. Condoleezza Rice became the first woman of color to hold the role. Although Rice easily won her nomination, the vote was one of the most contentious in US history to date because of her role in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Rice was allegedly responsible for permitting the use of torture against suspected terrorists and declined to answer questions from congressional oversight. The major issue of the day were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She championed a foreign policy called “Transformational Diplomacy” that worked to expand democratic governments around the world. This policy became problematic when the terrorist group Hamas won the popular majority in Palestinian elections, and the US continued to maintain close relationships with Egypt and Saudi Arabia who had authoritarian governments. Rice shaped foreign policy related to the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan, and given the significance of those wars, might be regarded as perhaps the most instrumental woman in US history to date related to international conflicts.

At the end of Bush’s term, Rice was replaced by Hilary Clinton as President Barrack Obama’s Secretary of State. Clinton made restoring America’s reputation for defending human rights and economic engagement around the world her first priority. Immediately after taking office, she contacted dozens of foreign leaders to signal a shift in US foreign policy encouraging economic diplomacy over military intervention. Borrowing from Pentagon processes, Clinton launched the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review to emphasize “civilian power” and the empowerment of women in the Global South. She had initially campaigned against Obama for the Democratic nomination and often came to Cabinet meetings with different opinions from the rest of the administration. Still, she worked cooperatively and effectively with the cabinet. She was one of the more hawkish voices in the administration, supporting a surge of troops in Afghanistan. She ultimately backed Obama’s compromise plan. Clinton backed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and argued for maintaining a larger residual force in Iraq.

Hillary Clinton in the Situation Room watching the feed during the raid on Osama bin Ladin in 2011[2]

Clinton expanded US advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights abroad, stating that “gay rights are human rights” . She  worked to make women’s rights central to US foreign policy; a framework sometimes called the “Hillary Doctrine.” She also greatly expanded the State Department’s digital outreach Her travel record was unprecedented, with visits to 112 countries and an emphasis on personal diplomacy.

Her tenure coincided with major global upheavals, including the Arab Spring. The 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi became the most politically charged episode of her tenure. Clinton accepted responsibility for the security failures but emphasized the confusion inherent in fast-moving crises. An independent review faulted mid-level State Department officials, and several were removed from their posts. Clinton testified multiple times before Congress and multiple by the Republican-led House found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Clinton’s tenure ended in early 2013 so she could begin a run for president. Evaluations of her tenure at that time were  mixed: She had no single landmark peace agreement to point to, but she lay the groundwork for ongoing focus on development, women’s empowerment, and global partnerships.

Conclusion

Women’s inclusion in the highest positions, shaping policy and international relations is crucial to designing effective treaties, considering intersectional impacts of policy, and improving the lives of women and families. The work of the Commission on the Status of Women, the adoption of landmark documents like CEDAW, and the global mobilization seen in Beijing in 1995 all demonstrate that women’s rights have advanced not because of abstract declarations alone, but because women across nations insisted that their lived experiences and political demands be taken seriously on the world stage.

Yet progress remains uneven. While women have made historic gains in leadership, including serving as foreign ministers and U.S. Secretaries of State, global politics continues to be dominated by men, and women’s representation in government varies widely by country. The stories of Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton reveal both the possibilities and limitations of women’s influence within powerful institutions shaped long before they arrived. Their careers illustrate how women leaders have shaped foreign policy, advanced human rights, and navigated the complexities of war, diplomacy, and partisan scrutiny.

The arc of women’s engagement with the UN and global politics shows that change is neither linear nor guaranteed. But each decade has brought new networks, new language, and new strategies grounded in the wisdom and activism of women around the world. As long as global challenges persist, women’s leadership will remain essential. Their continued participation is not simply a matter of representation; it is a prerequisite for a more just, peaceful, and equitable world.

[1] David Bohrer, “Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice in Camp David,” Wikimedia Commons. June 13, 2006. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/images/20060613_v061306db-0217jpg-515h.html.

[2] Pete Souza, “The Situation Room,” Wikimedia Commons, May 1, 2011. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg.