Post, Press
Americans Can Learn From the Struggles and Wins of Rwandan Women
If the hand-wringing of pundits has left you in despair that this country is beyond healing, learn from the women of Rwanda. Most people rightly recall that small nation in East Africa as the site of a 1994 genocide of unspeakable brutality, in which as many as one million (mostly Tutsi) died in a span […]
Big Idea, Press
Want Peace in Syria? Put Women at the Negotiating Table
This article was originally published by Defense One. With a fresh diplomatic push under way to restart Syrian peace talks this month, we should absorb a critical lesson from the Bosnia conflict as we grapple for a way out of the Syria deadlock: To create sustainable peace, women must have a seat at the negotiating […]
Press
‘Once and For All’: Women Are Essential to Global Stability
This article was originally published by Global Post. Fall 1995. First Lady Hillary Clinton shrugged off objections from United Nations-bashers, congressional Republicans, and State Department officials nervous about relations with China. As honorary chair of the US delegation, she insisted on addressing the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. As backdrop to the […]
Press
20 Years After Srebrenica Massacre, Women Are the Healers
This article was originally published by The Boston Globe. As US Ambassador to Austria, I took part in a ceremony in May 1995 marking the half-century anniversary of the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp by American forces. One after another, envoys stood at the wreath-laying and declared: “Never again.” Yet within a few hundred […]
Press
Women in Post-Genocide Rwanda Have Helped Heal Their Country
This article, co-authored by Swanee Hunt and Laura Heaton, was originally published by National Geographic. Crowds of police officers and nurses converged in a room painted with bright alphabet letters at a hospital in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. A plush frog and a couple of dolls with Afros lay on the table, props that might be […]
Press
The Rise of Rwanda’s Women
A new article, “The Rise of Rwanda’s Women,” by Inclusive Security founder and Chair Ambassador Swanee Hunt was published today on the Foreign Affairs website. The article will also appear in the May-June print edition. Over the last 15 years, Amb. Hunt and Inclusive Security staff have worked alongside Rwandan women leaders advancing peace and security. […]
Press
20 Percent Women, 100 Percent Effective
This article was originally published by Global Post. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., once said her experience as a preschool teacher was excellent training for Congress. As many on Capitol Hill are mugging for the press pool, proud of their political brinkmanship, a small group of female senators (Republicans Susan Collins, Kelly Ayotte and Lisa Murkowski, […]
Press
Is Caroline Kennedy Qualified?
This article was originally published by The Boston Globe. First, there was the New York Times article “Money, Politics, and Its Suckers.” The author declared, “Swanee Hunt got Vienna from Bill Clinton.” Twenty years later, browsing similar headlines about Caroline Kennedy upon her nomination as US ambassador to Japan, I offer her the advice given […]
Press
For the Sake of Democracy, Elect Women
This article was originally published by The Boston Globe. Hold these two thoughts: First: Thursday’s congressional swearing-in will reflect the stunning success of the Democrats’ ground game at turning out minorities — a strategy that stretched across Native American reservations, college campuses, Hispanic supermarkets, and crowded urban neighborhoods. Second: The 114th Congress will mirror the […]
Press
For Action on Syria, Some Lessons from Bosnia
This article was originally published by Global Post. The city is under siege. Mortars turn apartment blocks to dust, as soldiers trade bullets and territory daily. Civilians hunker down in what shelter remains, without water or electricity. Families brave deadly sniper fire to seek food. A visit to neighbors, or commute to work, means maneuvering […]
