Gendering foreign policy in Colombia’s peace process with the FARC
By: Felipe Jaramillo Ruiz (he/him/his) & María Catalina Monroy (she/her/hers)
In International Relations Theory, “two-level games” refers to an analytical approach that seeks to explain the interaction between domestic politics and foreign policy. It suggests that government leaders regularly engage simultaneously at the international and the domestic level, trying to gain domestic approval while, at the same time, striving to further their international goals. The word “peace” has been part of the Colombian government’s two-level game strategy for decades. The promise of “bringing peace” has been repeated over and over again by Colombia’s presidents in national and international fora. For instance, President Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) was elected after he managed to present a picture of his peace commissioner with the former Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (hereafter FARC) leader to the public. His slogan “now is the time for change” (el cambio es ahora) marked the establishment of the country’s “diplomacy for peace” strategy, which sought to obtain international support and economic assistance.
Years later, President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) brought the word “peace” back into the agenda. Santos was keen on restoring the country’s tarnished image by implementing an innovative strategy aimed at achieving a lasting peace. He conceived peace as a necessary element for transforming “how the world perceives Colombia” and “a very important factor in competitiveness”. Santos was able to gain national and international support for the peace process with the FARC. Which factors made this outcome possible? We call attention to one of them: the gendering of the peace process.
Our research examines the interaction between domestic politics and foreign policy in terms of the “gendering of the peace agreement”. Following the two-level game approach, we were able to identify the different “games” that occurred during the negotiation process between the Colombian government and the FARC. Through carefully tracing the “domestic game”, we were able to analyze the pressures that drove the insertion and formulation of a gender perspective in the negotiations with the FARC. Furthermore, we showed how the gains made by women’s rights organizations and movements were used to obtain international support for the peace agreement. Thus, we not only emphasize how women managed to influence the peace negotiations, but also how addressing women’s issues became an issue that was mainstreamed as part of Colombia’s foreign policy. From the local to the international level, we show the gendering of Colombia’s peace process. For instance, we show that, by insisting on the gender advances of the peace agreement, the Colombian government was able to present a positive record on gender issues. As a result of these diplomatic efforts, Colombia was able to attract more than 184 million US$ from the United Nations and the European Union in order to carry out 68 peace-related projects from 2011 until 2018.
The Colombian case demonstrates the gender dimensions of two-level games, in which government leaders deploy and compromise on gender policies as they seek to satisfy both domestic demands and maximize foreign support. In 2016, in an interview with TeleSUR, President Santos stated, “the chapter with the gender perspective has a greater international impact than what you can imagine (…). It has given legitimacy to the process, and spiritual strength”. In this sense, from our case study, we were able to conclude that the gendering of the peace process was a response of a well thought political and diplomatic strategy, what we consider a real game-changer for how domestic and foreign policy is conducted today.
Read the full article here: “Gendering foreign policy in Colombia’s peace process with the FARC“
Dr María Catalina Monroy is an Assistant Professor in the School of International, Political and Urban Studies at Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá. Her research focuses on Colombian Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy Analysis and gender studies in International Relations.
Felipe Jaramillo Ruiz’s research examines the intersection of international relations and human rights, specifically in the areas of gender, disability, and post-conflict. His research focuses on the way categories of difference gain political meaning in national and international frameworks, policies, and practices.
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