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In January 2007, I had the opportunity to take a class, which is offered at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government called Inclusive Security.
Inclusive Security is a 3-week winter intensive course taught by Ambassador Swanee Hunt, which examines the work of women-led peace building initiatives around the world while engaging the students in multiple skill-building exercises, e.g., policy advocacy writings (op-ed, letters to the editor), mock policy briefings with analytical paper, debates, and case work. The class also bridges theory and practice by conducting fieldwork during the Women Security Executive Program coordinated with the Initiative for Inclusive Security (the “Colloquium”). This year’s Colloquium brought more than 20 women government leaders from Colombia, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Sudan and Uganda to join my classes during which times they addressed and discussed their needs and opportunities in stabilizing their countries.
I found this once-in-a-lifetime experience to interview and interact closely with women from these various global conflicts such an eye-opening and empowering experience as I applied the theory from my class readings to thinking about how to break new ground in the analysis of how policy makers should think about bringing about an inclusive (which means to consider gender implications on policy decisions) process to these conflicts around the world.
After interacting with these women in formal and informal settings during the course of a week and listening to their stories of how their countries are consumed with devastation, I couldn’t help but ask them “How do you keep your hope alive? How do you keep from giving up because the obstacles are so numerous, and seem nearly impossible to overcome? How do you stay positive and motivated so that you can make a difference when the world seems to often forget your country’s devastating circumstances? The answer I repeatedly received was that “You can’t think of the past or yesterday, but we must think of tomorrow and how to secure our children’s future.”
With numerous very sad examples that ranged from (i) traveling from Southern Sudan into the bush while not eating for eight days in order to meet a guerilla war lord to invite him to the peace talks; (ii) having the city bus you’re on blown up in Uganda, and everyone seated on your row (6 others) is killed and you survive without a scratch; (iii) {traveling} on your way to work in Iraq {when} all of your body guards are massacred in an assassination attempt on your life, you survive and still go to work; (iv) {being} charged as an “enemy of the state” for your beliefs in democratic and equal rights for women and now living in exile in Cambridge, MA while your husband remains incarcerated in your home country where you were once a highly acclaimed and famous author recognized by your state; and (v) to finally witnessing women from the Khartoum government and Darfur interact to discuss the delicate situation in Darfur.
As AcademyWomen, I share my Inclusive Security class experience with you because I believe as women leaders – whether it be on the battlefield, the global policy arena, business, education, our communities or families – we can make a valuable difference by ensuring that critical decision-making is also processed through the inclusive lens. For example, in talking with one of the Colloquium participants about reintegrating women ex-combatants back into her society, she explained that women need to be at the peace talks table because oftentimes the peacetime benefits given to ex-combatants are granted on the basis of turning in a weapon and many women rebels do not carry a weapon given they perform other chores for the rebels, yet they are still labeled combatants, nonetheless. Therefore, these women will fall through the cracks of the societal reintegration if no one is present to be a voice for them.
Although the above example may seem foreign to your current living situation, it was an illustration of how the inclusive perspective and attention to the goal of gender equality and consideration for other marginalized groups will be central for leaders trying to restore peace to a troubled country. For us, I challenge our group of AcademyWomen to add the inclusive lens to our leadership toolkits because I believe complex problem-solving should process possible solutions through a myriad of analytical frameworks.
Elisa M.T. Basnight is a Zuckerman Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and on leave as an attorney with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, NY. Previously, she served in the U.S. Army as an intelligence officer and worked as a strategic consultant in the private sector. Elisa is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is the founder and board president of Girls Action Network, Inc. Elisa is a graduate of the United States Military Academy-West Point (B.S. - 1991); Boston University – Brussels (M.A. - 1995); and Rutgers School of Law – Newark (J.D. - 2002). Elisa can be contacted at elisa_westfield@ksg07.harvard.edu.
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