What’s Feminist about Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy?

On March 1, the German Federal Foreign Office released its framework for a Feminist Foreign Policy. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Svenja Schulze gave a joint statement saying that more equal societies suffer less from hunger and poverty and are, therefore, more stable. The new guidelines state that Germany will lobby to ensure that basic human rights such as access to food, healthcare, education, and security are more in focus globally, that women are better represented, and that Germany’s development funds are allocated to more projects that tackle gender inequality.

Coming from Germany, this framework gives fresh momentum to the feminist foreign policy movement, which was pioneered by a leftist Swedish government in 2014. But, what does a Feminist Foreign Policy actually mean? How can it be implemented? And, how does it differ from a values-oriented foreign policy? What does it look like in practice when addressing the war in Ukraine or the situation in Iran?

To address these questions, join us on International Women’s Day for a virtual discussion with Barbara Mittelhammer. She is is a Berlin-based independent consultant and political analyst who focuses on feminist foreign policy, human security, as well as gender in peace and security.

Barbara Mittelhammer is an independent, Berlin-based political analyst and consultant. Her research focuses on feminist foreign policy, gender in peace and security, human security, and civil society’s role in foreign policy-making. She has published on applying feminist foreign policy toward Iran and Syria, and has worked with think tanks, foundations, international organizations, ministries, parliamentarians, and civil society organizations, such as Carnegie Europe, Heinrich-Böll Foundation, Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, the German Foreign Office, and GIZ. In addition, she is a certified mediator.

As director with the Agora Strategy Group, a political consultancy, Ms. Mittelhammer built up and managed the Agora Strategy Institute, the consultancy’s think tank unit with a far-reaching global network of experts, and led international client projects. She headed Agora Strategy’s Berlin office and was head of HR and team lead. Before that, she was a press officer and project manager with the Munich Security Conference, one of the world’s leading platforms for debating international security policy. Ms. Mittelhammer studied political science, international law, and cultural anthropology in Munich and Paris. She is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and German, and speaks Italian.