Is it time for a "feminist" foreign policy?

(Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

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Feminism apparently has an answer for every problem. As long as you don’t ask for a precise definition of what a female is.

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party since 2014, has announced that she would be pursing a “feminist foreign policy” henceforth.

Scotland, of course, as a member of the United Kingdom, retains sovereignty over many issues, but none of them is foreign policy. In fact, Sturgeon became First Minister after being tapped to run a failed campaign to pass a referendum for complete Scottish independence. Scots voted by 55% to 45% to remain a member of the UK. Leaving foreign policy to the government at Westminster.

Silly constitutional barriers aside, Sturgeon is certain that feminist foreign policy will lead the way towards a brighter future for the world. She, along with her SNP colleagues, don’t quite know what that means yet, but we are all waiting with bated breath to find out.

The first minister is determined to bolster Scotland’s profile and activities around the world, despite foreign policy being reserved to Westminister.

Opposition to nuclear weapons, a key pillar of SNP and Green policy which is not shared by the unionist parties who back retaining Britain’s nuclear arsenal, was among the policies regarded as “feminist” by experts consulted by the Scottish government.

Women’s groups disagree about what policies can be regarded as “feminist”, prompting the Scottish government to devise its own definition.

Government officials consulted academics and activists including Dr Claire Duncanson, a lecturer on gender and international relations at the University of Edinburgh, and Lyric Thompson, vice-president of the Washington-based International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Their consultation responses, published yesterday, warn that a “feminist foreign policy” is a potential minefield of misinterpretation, jargon and competing priorities.

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Ya think?

One of the problems with the lurch to the Left that is happening across Europe and the West is the profound unseriousness of the people who are in charge of politics and the culture. While the world faces an economic crisis, an energy crisis, the real possibility of war with rising power China and declining power Russia, our leaders lecture us about transgenderism and devise meaningless terms such as “feminist foreign policy.”

Governments should offer an “intersectional rethinking of security” with a “multidimensional policy framework” to advance women’s rights and also “scrutinise the destructive forces of patriarchy, colonisation, heteronormativity, capitalism, racism, imperialism and militarism”.

Faced with competing visions of a feminist foreign policy, the Scottish government has decided to create its own. It said: “While foreign policy currently remains the responsibility of the UK government, there is a clear role for Scotland in being a good global citizen and making a constructive contribution to addressing global challenges.

“We believe that the Scottish government … can make a significant contribution to advancing the core principles of feminist foreign policy.

There is no single definition of feminist foreign policy… in the coming months, the Scottish government will develop its own ‘working definition’ of a feminist approach to foreign policy in Scotland which will be based on our conversations with stakeholders.”

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Literally, they do not know what they are talking about yet. They are having meetings with “stakeholders” in committees to define a vital agenda with no content other than disarmament. Disarmament, but for God’s sake send the weapons to Ukraine.

This is yet another example of the feelings over facts “thinking” that has taken over in our culture. It would be utterly unsurprising to have our politicians focus on frivolities such as this in good times. Politicians have to pretend to do things even when they should leave well enough alone.

But things suck right now. Nothing is going well, people are very unhappy, and even a person as inconsequential as the Scottish First Minister would be expected to try to address these bread and butter issues.

Instead she comes up with this.

Our Elite™ is obsessed with the most ridiculous matters, not so much because they don’t know what to do about the issues that matter. Sure, they don’t know what to do, because they like the policies that are causing all the problems. What we see as disaster, they see as success. As long as it doesn’t cost them power.

So they come up with tripe like this to distract people.

You would think that there would be a bigger pushback from the people getting crushed under the weight of the crises, but…not yet.

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Over the years I have learned that the Founders were right when they wrote “that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

Nobody is calling for the disbanding of government, but replacing the fools in charge would be nice. Despite that, it is clear then until things get really bad people prefer the devil they know.

Bonus content, to make your head shake:

I went to Wikipedia to look for the precise wording from the Declaration of Independence. As I was typing in the search term, Wikipedia came up with this list. T

he US Declaration of Independence? Not on the list until you get more specific. The French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man–a document that never went into effect during the 1st Republic because it was passed and suspended in order to carry out the Terror–came first. What is wrong with people?

FROM THE BOSS:

Now that the midterms are over, we must now prepare for the all-important 2024 presidential cycle — in fact, even more urgently than before. We need to make sure Democrats are one and done in the White House, and keep them locked out of control of Congress too. If you want real in-depth analysis and exclusive content and wish to support the long-term mission, join HotAir VIP today and use promo code VIPWEEK to receive 45% off your membership!

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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