The scale of the official UN General Assembly week is staggering: 73 heads of state and 45 heads of government, 49 ministers, 11 vice presidents, one crown prince, 168 official side events and hundreds more outside the building. While UNGA should be a moment of universality and equal participation, unfortunately it was reserved for the privileged in the current U.S. political landscape where many were not granted visas. I (as someone living in the U.S., near to NYC, with loca

On 20 June 2022, the Maldives Permanent Representative to the UN, Thilmeeza Hussain, introduced a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly that would establish 24 June as the International Day of Women in Diplomacy. The resolution attracted extraordinary support, with 191 UN member states joining as co-sponsors. She described the new international day as an opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by women diplomats and on what more needed to be done to secure

Since beginning my PhD research on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP), I have had the privilege of attending countless workshops, seminars, conferences, and public events exploring feminist approaches to international relations and foreign policymaking. Many have been academic, while others have brought together policymakers, diplomats, and practitioners. Across these different settings, however, one particular opening line has become remarkably familiar: "I'm the only man in the

Earlier this month, over 700 ministers, UN officials, and feminist activists gathered in Madrid for the 5th Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP). By the official account, it was a success: high-profile speakers, packed plenaries, a political declaration. However, a more critical read grounded in years of research on exactly these gatherings tells a more familiar story about who controls the room, who gets squeezed out of it, and what that means for a framew

At the 28th International Political Science Association (IPSA) World Congress, I had the honour of participating in the panel "Decolonising Feminist Foreign Policy; Rethinking Gender, Power and Global Hierarchies", brilliantly organised by Diana E. Chacón. In a great dialogue with Kavita Nandini Ramdas, Farah Faizal, Katie Whipkey and Isabel Hernandez Pepe, and with insightful comments from Dr.Yasmine Hasnaoui, we engaged in a collective interrogation: What does it mean to c