Women with a Mission: A Study of Five Eyes' Diplomacy
Abstract
The Five Eyes - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US - have a rich tradition on gender equality in diplomacy. They were among the 51 founding members of the United Nations (UN) which negotiated the gender clauses of the UN Charter. However, Global Gender Gap reports have revealed the Five Eyes as more mercurial in their national policy and practice. The Global Diplomacy Index confirms the UK and US have the broadest diplomatic footprints, offering enhanced opportunities for gender parity in Head of Mission (HOM) appointments, yet the Women in Diplomacy Index scores Canada, New Zealand and Australia higher on such appointments. Women have progressed from perceived absence to presence in senior ranks of Five Eyes' Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs), but their power remains contested. Within the buoyant gender and diplomacy literature, the relationship between appointments and influence remains understudied. This thesis therefore asks 'To what extent does women's increasing representation in Five Eyes' diplomacy contribute to their influence on Five Eyes' diplomacy?'
This research recovers the lived experience of women diplomats from 1901 to 2024 against diplomacy's shifting norms. It offers the first case study of Five Eyes' MFAs - each other's closest security partners with until recently shared but increasingly challenged interests, values and norms - facilitating the most relevant comparative analysis. It conceives a Framework for Women's Influence in Diplomacy for research into the relationship between appointments and influence, for this thesis and future scholars. Archival sources complement fieldwork with 250 women diplomats, enriching the discipline with a contemporary dataset and insights from nation states based or with equities in the Indo-Pacific.
This thesis asserts three principal claims. Firstly, women's increasing representation is necessary but not sufficient for women's influence on Five Eyes' diplomacy. While Five Eyes' MFAs have shattered many shibboleths on women diplomats' appointments, earning awards for doing so, such records risk becoming performative. Secondly, myriad other factors shape women's influence in diplomacy. Women diplomats prioritise three: care, corporate support and culture. Thirdly, there are diplomacy, public policy and national leadership implications. Evidence exists that MFAs can conquer their gendered legacies. Increased representation of women in arms of government to which resources have been redirected from MFAs offers collaboration which could multiply women diplomats' influence. Redressing exceptionalism in who represents the nation promotes congruence between gender equality policy and practice. The Five Eyes' are embarked on that journey. This research offers best practice to complete it.