The Impact of Gender on Power and Peace

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The impact of gender on power and peace has recently come under substantial inquiry. The main question here is whether both civil and international conflict is considered a predominately masculine concern, or whether this conflict is purely an outcome of a competitive system (Beckman, 1994). This essay will prove that a world in which more women are in positions of power and influence would not create a more peaceful world, and rather, “war is a political relationship between states and has nothing to do with the psychology of the individuals involved” (Nye, 2012). The world would not be a more peaceful place if more women were in positions of power and influence as it completely depends on the circumstances of global politics, and the objectives of the political leader. War and conversely, peace are both gender-neutral states of being.

The idea of a more peaceful word if more women held powerful and influential positions depends fundamentally on the conventional view of females as the most peaceful and pacified gender. It is easily questionable as to whether this outlook is naturally inherent, or if society has assumed these values as the manner in which women are to behave (Cook & Wilcox, 1991). By analysing the characteristics and actions of women who have been in influential and powerful positions, it is clear that those who succeed when in these positions of power tend to show conventionally masculine qualities. For example, bellicose leaders such as Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi and Golda Meir would prove the idea of a more peaceful world if more women were in power as untrue due to all three leaders’ history of war and in Gandhi’s case, a nuclear program. This is because in current politics, the rise to a powerful posi...

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... Gap- A Second Look. Journal of Politics (53), 1111-1122.
Malik, Y. K. (1988). India: The Years of Indira Gandhi. The Netherlands: Brill Academic Pub .
Mikhailova, A. (2014, 03 06). Indira Gandhi: Woman Must Feel Free To Be Herself. Retrieved 05 11, 2014, from Voice of Russia: http://voiceofrussia.com/radio_broadcast/268267688/268267839/
Nye. (2012, . .). A More Peaceful World if Women were in Charge? Retrieved 05 11, 2014, from Global Public Square: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/08/a-more-peaceful-world-if-women-in-charge
Oxford Dictionaries. (2014, . .). "Peace". Retrieved 05 12, 2014, from Oxford Dictionaries: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/peace
Reardon, B. (1985). Sexism and the War System. New York: Teachers College Press.
Whitworth, S. (1998). Feminism and International Relations. Political Psychology , 19 (2), 421-424.

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