Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 explores the role of women as agents of diplomacy in the trans-Atlantic world since the early modern age. Despite increasing evidence of their involvement in political life across the centuries, the core historical narrative of international politics remains notably depleted of women. This collection challenges this perspective. Chapters cover a wide range of geographical contexts, including Europe, Russia, Britain and the United States, and trace the diversity of women’s activities and the significance of their contributions. Together these essays open up the field to include a broader interpretation of diplomatic work, such as the unofficial avenues of lobbying, negotiation and political representation that made women central diplomatic players in the salons, courts and boudoirs of Europe. Through a selection of case studies, the book throws into new perspective the operations of political power in local and national domains, bridging and at times reconceptualising the relationship of the private to the public. Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 is essential reading for all those interested in the history of diplomacy and the rise of international politics over the past five centuries.

Based on extensive archival research, this book provides a new and stimulating history of International Relations (IR) as an academic discipline. Contrary to traditional accounts, it argues that IR was not invented by Anglo-American men after the First World War. Nor was it divided into neat theoretical camps. To appreciate the twists and turns of early IR scholarship, the book follows a diverse group of men and women from across Europe and beyond who pioneered the field since 1914. Like architects, they built a set of institutions (university departments, journals, libraries, etc.) but they also designed plans for a new world order (draft treaties, petitions, political commentary, etc.). To achieve these goals, they interacted closely with the League of Nations and its bodies for intellectual cooperation, until the Second World War put an end to their endeavour. Their story raises broader questions about the status of IR well beyond the inter-war period.

What difference does gender make to foreign diplomacy? What do we know about women's participation as decision-makers in international affairs? Is it fair to assume, as many observers do, that female elites will mirror the relatively pacifist preferences of women in the general public as well as the claims of progressive feminist movements? And, of particular importance to this book, what consequences follow from the appointment of "firsts" to these posts? Inspired by recent work in the field of feminist diplomatic history, this book offers the first comparative examination of women's presence in senior national security positions in the United States executive branch. Sylvia Bashevkin looks at four high-profile appointees in the United States since 1980: Jeane Kirkpatrick during the Reagan years, Madeleine Albright in the Clinton era, Condoleezza Rice during the George W. Bush presidency, and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the first Obama mandate. Bashevkin explores the extent to which each of these women was able to fully participate in a domain long dominated by men, focusing in particular on the extent to which each shaped foreign policy in meaningful ways. She looks particularly at two specific phenomena: first, the influence of female decision-makers, notably their ability to make measurable difference to the understanding and practice of national security policy; and second, leaders' actions with respect to matters of war and women's rights. The track records of these four women reveal not just a consistent willingness to pursue muscular, aggressive approaches to international relations, but also widely divergent views about feminism. Women as Foreign Policy Leaders shows how Kirkpatrick, Albright, Rice, and Clinton staked out their presence on the international scene and provided a crucial antidote to the silencing of women's voices in global politics.

This path-breaking book addresses the oft-avoided, yet critical question: where are the women located in contemporary diplomacy and international negotiation? The text presents a novel research agenda, including new theoretical and conceptual perspectives on gender, power and diplomacy. The volume brings together a wide range of established International Relations scholars from different parts of the world to write original contributions, which analyse where the women are positioned in diplomacy and international negotiation. The contributions are rich and global in scope with cases ranging from Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Sweden to the UN, Russia, Norway and the European Union. This book fills an important gap in research and will be of much interest to students and scholars of gender, diplomacy and International Relations. The volume also reaches out to a broader community of practitioners with an interest in the practice of diplomacy and international negotiation.

This volume provides a detailed discussion of the role of women in diplomacy and crafts a global narrative of understanding relating to their current and historical role within it.

For almost 30 years, scholars and advocates have been exploring the interaction and potential between the rights and well-being of women and the promise of international law. This collection posits that the next frontier for international law is increasing its relevance, beneficence and impact for women in the developing world, and to deal with a much wider range of issues through a feminist lens.

Unravelling the mechanisms of daily diplomacy in the mid-20th century, this book follows one Dutch diplomatic couple, the van Kleffens, on their postings from the 1930s to the 1950s to offer a new perspective on how non-officials and personal politics shaped the postwar world. Combining private and public source materials, Erlandsson foregrounds the political culture of diplomacy and highlights events and people which have been left off the official record. The book integrates the detailed study of behind-the-scenes diplomatic practice into the larger narrative of traditional diplomatic history, connecting social practices with political outcomes. Exploring how women's tea drinking was used to achieve post-war foreign policy and how Rosa, a Guatemalan cook, contributed to the international standing of the Netherlands, it offers a more inclusive history by recognising the diplomatic work done by actors who were not diplomats. In doing so it demonstrates the ways in which diplomacy was class-bound, gendered and racialized, and proves that historicizing gender and cultural norms is crucial to understanding political and international history.

Critical and connected: brings together diverse political perspectives from the world's leading experts, giving students the tools to critically evaluate America's ever-changing role in international politics and to connect theory to real events.

An innovative, interdisciplinary perspective on soft power in history, moving beyond the framework of the nation-state Starting in the nineteenth century, as world events became more interconnected than ever, and as public opinion began to weigh on democratic governments, nations employed new communication strategies and propaganda to gain global influence and prestige. Soft power strategies were used by different nation-states, and by supranational and nonstate actors, that wanted to gain influence on the international stage. Soft Power Beyond the Nation takes a distinct approach to the study of soft power in history, moving beyond the framework of the nation-state. The volume editors use "soft power" to refer to the processes through which persuasion, the search for influence and power, and public opinion converge in the international arena. The book is organized on the basis of three central themes: the transnational circulation of knowledge and strategies of public diplomacy across borders, collaboration of intermediary actors of soft power whose interests did not always coincide with those of the state, and the role played by nonnational identities, such as gender and race, in soft power. Soft Power Beyond the Nation enriches the historiographical study of soft power, broadening its temporal and spatial scope and refreshing it with new perspectives on transnationalism, gender, and race. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of history and international relations.

This handbook presents a comprehensive, concise and accessible overview of the field of Historical International Relations (HIR). It summarizes and synthesizes existing contributions to the field while presenting central themes, approaches and methodologies that have driven the development of HIR, providing the reader with a sense of the diversity and research dynamics that are at the heart of this field of study. The wide range of topics covered are grouped under the following headings: Traditions: Demonstrates the wide variety of approaches to HIR. Thinking International Relations Historically: Different ways of thinking IR historically share some common concerns and areas for further investigation. Actors, Processes and Institutions: Explores the processes, actors, practices, and institutions that constitute the core objects of study of many HIR scholars. Situating Historical International Relations: Critically reflects about the situatedness of our objects of study. Approaches: Examines how HIR scholars conduct and reflect about their research, often in dialogue with a variety of perspectives from cognate disciplines. Summarizing key contributions and trends while also sketching out challenges for future inquiry, this is an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers from a range of disciplines, particularly International Relations, global history, political science, history, sociology, anthropology, peace studies, diplomatic studies, security studies, international political thought, political geography, international law.