Press
Taking Courage From the Women of Bosnia and Herzegovina
This article, co-authored by Swanee Hunt and Miki Jacevic, was originally published in a supplement to Wiener Zeitung. The nature of violent conflict has shifted in recent decades, from th domain of states to internal struggles embroiling noncombatants in prolonged instability. Civilians–particularly women–aren’t only primary victims, they’re also experts. Yet our model of security still […]
Post, Press
Peace Activist Mossarat Qadeem Enlists Mothers to Fight Terrorism in Pakistan
This article was originally published by The Daily Beast. Her phone rang at 9 p.m. “Can you come tonight? He’s home.” The voice was anxious. “My son left those extremists he took up with, but maybe just for the night.” Mossarat Qadeem, a peace activist in Pakistan, considered the dangerous four-hour drive through checkpoints and […]
Press
Bosnia Still Needs Fixing
This article, co-authored by Swanee Hunt and Wesley Clark, was originally published by The New York Times. IN the Bosnian city of Mostar, a beautiful Ottoman-era limestone bridge called the Stari Most arched over the Neretva River for 427 years, surviving earthquakes and two world wars. After a barrage of shelling in 1993, during the […]
Press
Serbia in Paradox
This article was originally published by Global Post. In April 2012, Serbia is living a paradox — beginning a new chapter before finishing the old. With the recent resignation of President Boris Tadic, eyes are trained, at least for a moment, on that torn remnant of Yugoslavia. The country, in turn, is looking for ways […]
Press
Nobel Peace Prize Winners Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Recognized
This article was originally published by The Daily Beast. Looking out the airplane window at a white winter landscape in Oslo yesterday, I thought back to another flight. Several years ago, a U.N. helicopter took me “up country” to the Liberian bush. Sitting in circles on rickety chairs in the heavy heat, women leaders (albeit […]
Big Idea, Press
Time for Women to Call the Shots
This article was originally published by Global Post. Ten years ago, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. In short, “1325” (as the international law is known among advocates) seeks to elevate the decision-making of women in war zones and protect women during armed conflict. This month, as […]
Press
Iraq’s Excluded Women
This article, co-authored by Swanee Hunt and Cristina Posa, was originally published by Foreign Policy. It was August 2003 in the Iraqi city of Najaf — long before the holy city’s takeover by Muslim cleric Moktada al-Sadr — and U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Conlin faced a dilemma. Arriving at a swearing-in ceremony for Nidal […]
Press
Women Are the Emerging Power of the 21st Century
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe. As the world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, one gathering in particular testified to the resilience of the human spirit. Some 800 guests assembled in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia on the coast of West Africa, for the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership […]
Press
The UN’s R2P Report Is Missing Out by Half
This article, co-authored by Swanee Hunt and Sheila B. Lalwani, was originally published by Huffington Post. A few days ago, the United Nations released its latest report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), the international commitment to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The report comes at a good time: President Obama is […]
Press
Anna Politkovskaya Still Wages Peace
This article was originally published by San Francisco Chronicle. Worldwide, at least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 — the highest annual toll in more than a decade — and murder was the leading cause of death, according to two organizations that promote freedom of the press, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect […]
