Can a feminist foreign policy be undone? Reflections from Sweden

Abstract

In 2022, Sweden retracted its feminist foreign policy (FFP). What are the consequences for Swedish foreign policy and for FFPs elsewhere? We published an extensive report on the Swedish FFP in 2023, based on a survey that went out to all Swedish diplomats, interviews with more than 30 key foreign policy officials, and hundreds of steering documents from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The article draws out new insights from the report. The retraction is likely to result in a deprioritization of gender equality in Swedish foreign policy. Sweden will likely lose its international leadership role on gender issues. However, FFPs may be more resilient than anticipated because of how foreign policy is governed. Governments that wish to retract FFPs are constrained by three key governance features: First, international agreements and soft law on women's rights place demands on policy content. Second, the decentralized nature of foreign policy implementation allows considerable autonomy on the ground, so that implementors may continue to work with gender equality. Third, longstanding international expectations for Sweden as a gender equality champion create a role-based constraint. These factors contribute to the ‘stickiness’ of FFPs, suggesting that a retraction is unlikely to result in a wholesale abandonment of gender equality activities. The article also examines the enduring legacy of the Swedish FFP beyond its formal retraction, highlighting adoption of FFPs by a growing number of states in different parts of the world.