Why Security? Why Women? Why Now?
America is at a crossroads. We are moving away from a time of conventional, state-based threats and toward a time where individuals may wield great destructive power. In today’s world, borders remain important, but the character of safety includes much more. Climate, health, participation in self-determination and the safety of people are paramount concerns. While a strong military is imperative, the role of our military as well as our civilian agencies must change. At this historic moment, it is important to ask, how might policymaking shift with more women at the table? After all, women have traditionally led from the foot of the table, where relationships, communication, perception management and networking are vital tools of influence. Today, these same skills are required for American and indeed the for the world’s security.
Historic Women Leaders Summit: November 15-17, 2007
On November 15 - 17, 2007, The White House Project co-convened the largest gathering of women world leaders addressing issues of global security ever held in the United States. This truly significant initiative brought together current and former women heads of state and government and more than 70 other high-level women leaders from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America. Visit WomenandGlobalSecurity.org to learn more.
The End of Intervention
The Burmese government’s criminally neglectful response to last month’s cyclone, and the world’s response to that response, illustrate three grim realities today: totalitarian governments are alive and well; their neighbors are reluctant to pressure them to change; and the notion of national sovereignty as sacred is gaining ground, helped in no small part by the disastrous results of the American invasion of Iraq. Indeed, many of the world’s necessary interventions in the decade before the invasion — in places like Haiti and the Balkans — would seem impossible in today’s climate. Continue reading >>
