19/12/2025
ACCSS Recommended Reading for the Holliday Season: Women, Peace, Security: Global Norms, Local Practice
by Marion Hischier (Program Officer, Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zürich.)
Key Messages:
The WPS Agenda is under sustained political and cultural challenge.
Anti-gender backlash: Conservative movements globally are rejecting gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and inclusive language, framing them as “Western ideological imposition.” This is observed in autocracies (Russia, Hungary) and democracies (US, Argentina, Germany).
Critique of norm imposition: Post-colonial societies resist WPS norms as culturally insensitive and neo-colonial, arguing they marginalize local values and experiences.
Implementation is regressing in a shifting world order.
Multipolarity and eroding multilateralism have slowed WPS progress.
Key states (e.g., US) are rolling back WPS commitments, and UN debates show reluctance to even use the term “gender.”
Cultural literacy is essential for effective WPS implementation.
The Somalia case illustrates how top-down, norm-driven approaches can trigger resistance and stall legal reforms (e.g., Sexual Offences Bill).
Local activists use strategies like “intentional invisibility” and Islamic discursive framing to navigate between international expectations and local legitimacy.
Flexible, context-sensitive approaches are more effective than rigid norm promotion.
Success in Galmudug (banning FGM) came through local leadership, Somali lawyers, and Islamic scholars—minimal international visibility.
International actors must know when to use WPS language and when to adopt culturally adaptive engagement.
The WPS ecosystem must evolve to remain relevant.
The agenda must move beyond universalist assumptions and engage meaningfully with local gender constructs, religious frameworks, and historical grievances.
Significance for Security Policy and Practice:
Highlights the politicization of gender in international relations.
Gender equality is no longer a consensus issue but a geopolitical and ideological faultline, leveraged by populist, conservative, and anti-Western actors. This complicates multilateral cooperation on peace and security.
Reveals the limits of liberal peacebuilding.
The critique of WPS as “Western imposition” underscores deeper tensions in peacebuilding between universal human rights and cultural sovereignty. This calls for critical reflection on how norms are designed, promoted, and localized.
Emphasizes the importance of local agency and knowledge.
The Somalia case shows that sustainable change comes from inside-out, not outside-in. Supporting local women’s religious literacy and collaboration with Islamic scholars can be more effective than high-visibility international advocacy.
Advocates for pragmatic and trust-based operational approaches.
Security practitioners and diplomats need cultural literacy to avoid counterproductive interventions. This means:
Listening more than prescribing
Building long-term relationships over transactional projects
Using language and frameworks that resonate locally
Signals a need for adaptive norm entrepreneurship.
The future of WPS depends on flexible interpretation and implementation, allowing norms to be co-created with local stakeholders rather than delivered as finished products.
Broader Implications:
For the UN and multilateral system: The WPS agenda must be decentered from Western leadership and integrated into regional and religious peacebuilding frameworks.
For donor countries and NGOs: Funding and programming must support local ownership and avoid undermining local legitimacy through visible external pressure.
For academic and policy communities: There is a need to decolonize gender and security studies, engage more deeply with non-Western feminist thought, and develop context-sensitive metrics of success.
Conclusion:
This CSS Analysis is a timely warning that the WPS agenda is at a critical juncture. Its future relevance depends not on dogmatic adherence to its original framing, but on its ability to adapt, listen, and hybridize in response to cultural, political, and religious diversity. For security scholars and practitioners, the message is clear: cultural literacy is not optional—it is a strategic necessity for effective peace and security engagement in a multipolar world.
