Get Real: Notes from CSW
At CSW this week, it became clear that Trump's foreign policy isn't realism. It's self-destructive. Ladies, let's get our fight on.
Happy birthday dear Catherine!
Happy Purim!
Good lord, the news. There’s so much of it, it’s hard to focus, let alone analyze. And I get the feeling of just tuning it out. But that’s not what I do. This week, I look at women, CSW, and Trump’s “realist” foreign policy approach—after drafting thoughts on the eventual proliferation of nuclear weapons, the blatant corruption we’re seeing and how it compares to Turkey, and how ridiculous realist scholar who blames Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Ukraine and the West John Mearsheimer is. Those ended up on the cutting room floor.
On Mahmoud Khalil. There are a lot of pieces about free speech and the First Amendment. There is no question that this is the issue at hand. However, if Khalil’s case reaches the US Supreme Court, I fear that it will focus on his status in the United States—and whether Green Card holders have the same rights and protections as US citizens—not on free speech.
And Greenland held elections! There are links on that below.
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The mood this week at the gathering for the Commission on the Status of Women was grim. Launched in 1947 in order to advance women’s rights, CSW is the second largest UN gathering, after the UN General Assembly confab in September. Thousands descend upon Manhattan’s East Side to discuss the status of women worldwide. As I noted last week, that status is not great. One out of four countries reports a backlash on women and women’s rights. Women are under attack.
For the past seven weeks, the US has been one of those countries. Team Trump has taken a sledgehammer to all things diversity, equity, and inclusion. This week, the NYT reported 199 words US government agencies should avoid. It includes women and gender.
So, we shouldn’t be surprised, even if we are horrified, that the US, as Colum Lynch notes, “joined forces with Russia, Argentina, and other conservative states to strike language promoting efforts to achieve gender parity at the UN.” Countries that have adopted a feminist foreign policy and formed the Feminist Foreign Policy Caucus had previously held sessions within the UN building. Not this year.
This retreat from women’s issues is part of a broader shift in how the current administration approaches foreign policy. A number of recent pieces have reached into political science speak to explain this approach and landed on realism. Realism believes the world is dog-eat-dog. Nations ultimately act in their own self-interest—not for “democracy” or “human rights.
There is good reason to believe that nations act in their own interests—because that’s what nations do. Even when Washington championed international bodies and norms, America has always been about…..America first. That did not mean America alone. Since the end of World War II, the US embraced, more or less, liberal internationalism—building alliances and global cooperation. It did so not out of sheer idealism, but, rather, a belief that working in collaboration would maximize benefits and reduce confrontation—even as it engaged in regime change and confrontation across the globe, most notably in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Liberal internationalism is projected as idealism and, yet, the nation projecting it was hardly a saint.
Donald Trump, ever the deep intellectual thinker, has said that liberal internationalist approach has let the world take advantage of America—and he won’t allow it to go on. In addition to suspending diversity efforts and striking language on gender equality and empowerment, he has levied tariffs on Europe and Canada, threatened to take over Greenland, cozied up to Vladimir Putin and allowed the shuttering of USAID and US foreign assistance. Yet, these actions run counter to realism. Rather than self-interest, they are self-destructive.
Destruction seems to be the point. Where realists play to win, Team Trump is playing to reap the most benefits—and burn the rest of it to the ground. It’s not zero-sum, I win, you lose. It’s negative sum, I win, you perish.
That is good cause for alarm and despair. It is also motivation to push forward and fight.
Rebecca Traister reflects on what it means to win and lose in politics. On the budget negotiations she says:
“..this whole process has me thinking about what it means, politically, to win or lose. Or in contexts like this one, in which “winning” isn’t on the table for Democrats, what it means to step up versus step back, to take a risk versus be careful. More broadly, it’s made me consider the strategic character of the modern Democratic party: what it has valued and how it perceives strength…”
CSW paved the way for a series of conventions, including the conventions protecting the political rights of women and the first agreement on women’s rights in marriage. In 1963, CSW’s efforts led to the drafting of a declaration on ending discrimination against women and the legally binding Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
As UN Women’s website notes, “in 1972, to mark its 25th anniversary, the Commission recommended that 1975 be designated International Women’s year.” That year, the UN held the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City. In 1995, the UN hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women where 189 countries adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Most of this was done at a time when women could only sign up for a credit card with the approval of a male relative—a husband, father, brother, uncle. The NYT would only start using the “Ms.”honorific in 1986! The world had only seen a handful of women in leadership positions—in Sri Lanka, India, Israel, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. It was only in 1996 that the United States saw the appointment of its first female secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.
And, yet, in 2000, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1325, urging member states to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts. While that story needs its own post, the important bit of this story are the NGOs and civil society actors that coordinated and mobilized to make it a global priority. Activism and cooperation work.
The reality, to deliberately use a pun here, is that while we’re scrambling to define Trump’s worldview, let’s not lose sight of individual self-interest and power. Yes, women are losing right now. But they don’t need to give up the fight. — Elmira
Elsewhere in the World.....
On our radar...
Russia-Ukraine
This week, Trump’s special envoy—to the Middle East?—went to Moscow with the US-Ukraine proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. (This is something the secretary of state should do, which says a lot about how much influence Marco Rubio has within Team Trump and confidence with Trump himself). This has put the proverbial ball in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court—and possibly called his bluff. Putin, as Ellen Nakashima and Warren Strobel report, won’t give up his maximalist goals of dominating Ukraine. As of this writing, Putin has not outright rejected the proposal. But expect that he will counter with one on his terms. How will Trump respond?
Cristina Maza looks at the ways Trump has helped Putin. (National Journal)
What does Trump see in Putin? Listen to this discussion with Russia expert Fiona Hill. It’s really good. (The Foreign Affairs Podcast)
Marie Dumoulin argues that Europe can ensure Ukraine’s security, if it is able to embrace four pillars, one of which includes putting troops on the ground. (ECFR)
What’s so special about Ukrainian minerals? Munira Raji explains. (The Conversation)
Tariffs
Trump’s tariffs are “self-mutilation” says Canada’s ex-finance minister, Chrystia Freeland. Damilola Banjo reports. (PassBlue)
What do tariffs on aluminum, steel, and copper mean for the Western hemisphere? Gladys Gerbaud takes a look at what the US imports vs. exports in a series of informative graphics. (AS/COA)
Watch: Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is being hailed as the Trump whisperer. She’s riding on a 85 percent approval rating for her handling of Trump and the on-and-off-again tariffs. Carin Zissis discusses. (DW)
Your wine is about to get even more expensive. Trump has threatened 200 percent tariffs on European wines. 🤯Jaclyn Diaz has more. (NPR)
Canada has a new prime minister, for the moment. The ruling Liberal Party elected Mark Carney as its new leader, succeeding Justin Trudeau. Who is Carney? SwapnaVenugopal Ramaswamy takes a look. (USA Today)
Also, Canada, we love you.
US
Um. USAID staffers are told to burn and shred documents, report Nahal Toosi and Phelim Kine. 👀(Politico)
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that 83 percent of USAID’s programs have been cut. Ellen Knickmeyer reports. (AP)
Africa
Things in Sudan are not looking great. The African Union said this week that the parallel government that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, set up, risks partitioning the country.
Meanwhile, in South Sudan, the president and vice president have been locked in a political battle that has led to renewed tensions. The US has ordered non-essential personnel to leave the country. Uganda has sent in troops to help secure the capital, Juba. Benita van Eyssen is watching the escalating situation. (DW)
Asia
The big news out of Asia this week is single handedly the ICC arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. During his tenure, Duterte made headlines for his brutal and ruthless pursuit of drug dealers that included extra judicial killings. It is estimated that between 12,000-30,000 people were killed. That’s the basis for his detention. But before we leap to the conclusion that the international rules based order may be working after all, let’s keep in mind that the ruling Marcos regime has an axe to grind with the Dutertes, specifically with Rodrigo’s daughter Sara, who had been the vice-president until her falling out with the current Marcos president. Sammy Westfall has more. (Washington Post)
Last week, China’s foreign minister held a press conference. Yu Jie says that it revealed a China that is eager to take on the US, but hesitant to be a global leader. (Chatham House)
The Americas
In Argentina, Javier Milei has seized on the US-born Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), turning it into a “right-wing international”—a global block to counter the left, writes Lucia Cholakian Herrera. (New Lines)
The Middle East
On Syria’s coast last weekend, government forces clashed with “pro-Assad fighters,” who are incidentally Alawite, a minority sect. Mawadah Bahah breaks down what happened. (Al Jazeera)
Also in Syria, Kurdish Syrian Defense Forces signed an agreement with the Sunni-led government to merge into the Syrian state by the end of the year. And that’s a big deal, writes Kelley Beaucar Vlahos. (Responsible Statecraft)
Europe
In Romania, the country’s election authority disqualified a far-right populist candidate, Calin Georgescu, from running in the May rerun election. Georgescu had won the first round in November, but Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results following claims that he had benefited from Russian support on TikTok. Where are you going EU democracy, ask Ana Maria Dima and Marius Stan. (Global Voices)
Greenland held elections this week. The opposition center-right party won. Given Trump’s talk about taking over the island nation and Greenlanders desire for self-determination, opted to support the pro-business party that has a more gradual approach to breaking away from Denmark, writes Ivana Saric explains (Axios)
Who gets to determine Greenland’s future? Louise Bokkenheuser spends time on the island nation. (New Yorker)
As the US retreats from Europe, can the UK and France replace the US nuclear umbrella? Astrid Chevreuil and Doreen Horschig aren’t so sure…. (CSIS)
Technology
Can you rewrite history through AI? China is doing it. And that should worry all of us, write Loretta Sanchez and Greg Walden. (The Hill)
Under the Radar
Beth Woroniuk sounds the alarm on financing for gender equality. “Without bold commitments, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development….risks failing to deliver the resources needed to advance women’s rights, economic justice, and the Sustainable Development Goals.” (DevEx)
Opportunities
In NYC, the Carnegie Corporation of New York is hiring for a Program Director, Peace & Security.
Original Strategies is hiring for a Vice President.
Remote, West Wing Writers is looking for a Director.
The Center for European Analysis has a number of open positions.
The Rockefeller Foundation has opened up its applications for the Bellagio Center Residency Program.
Editorial Team
Elmira Bayrasli - Editor-in-Chief