The Where, What, and Who of Feminist Foreign Policy: Hierarchies of Geography, Knowledge, and Power

The year 2024 marked ten years since Sweden launched its avowedly "feminist" foreign policy (FFP).A decade on, states in the Global North and the Global South have either adopted feminist foreign policies or declared their intention to do so (see Table 1 below).Major international conferences have been organized by the German (Berlin, 2022), Dutch (The Hague, 2023), Mexican (Mexico City, 2024), and French governments (Paris, 2025).Discussions of FFP have also become a regular fixture on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and the United Nations' annual meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women.Regional bodies, such as the European Union and the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation, have also hosted large events.Yet, as quickly as its profile has risen, FFP has also begun to recede from view.Sweden, Germany, Argentina, and the Netherlands have all rescinded their policies or intentions in that regard, and their future in places like Canada looks increasingly uncertain (Leclerc 2025).Set against a global backdrop of rising authoritarianism and the erosion of liberal norms, including gender equality, FFP's once prominent position as a state-led approach to addressing global inequalities is increasingly precarious.Despite these setbacks, feminist scholars and activists laud the turn to feminism in foreign policy and its potential to transform the international system.In addition, civil society continues to respond positively to more feminism in foreign policy, operating within an emergent "FFP industry," comprising nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), consultants, academics, and grassroots organizations, mostly concentrated in the Global North (see Haastrup, 2025).While