Sweden, NATO and gendered silences on Feminist Foreign Policy

Sweden was the first state to adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) in 2014, drawing on its state feminist tradition and support for the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Yet following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and its move to seek NATO membership - abandoning its non-alignment - a gendered silence on FFP pervaded. Significantly, this thus predated the official abandonment of FFP following the election of a new government in October 2022. NATO membership was viewed as incompatible with FFP. Yet, NATO has long sought to project itself as a gender just actor, including through engagement with the WPS agenda culminating in its inclusion in the 2022 Strategic Concept. Further, Sweden – as a NATO partner – had been a stalwart of the Alliance’s work on WPS. This article contributes to understanding the role of gendered silences in shaping strategic narratives, in this case concerning Sweden’s NATO membership bid. It provides insight for policy makers and diplomats on the impact gendered silence can have on the wider efficacy of FFP and WPS, even during processes such as NATO enlargement which might otherwise be viewed as ‘gender neutral’

Political legitimacy and celebrity politicians:Tony Blair as Middle East envoy 2007-2015

After Tony Blair resigned as the United Kingdom’s prime minster in June 2007, he was appointed as the official envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East. His appointment was marred with controversy not the least with regard to his suitability for the role and his performance as peace envoy, with many observers questioning his ethical credentials. The EU along with the US, Russia and the UN make up the Quartet and funded Blair’s office until 2012. With the US and the EU as the key regional players in this conflict, Blair became an embodiment of these players in this specific role. This article employs critical discourse analysis to nuance whether Tony Blair’s role as Middle East envoy, and as an embodiment of the EU, was indeed a legitimate one in terms of achieving at least some of its stated aims, particularly those pertaining to the Palestinians who live under Israel’s colonization. It does so by engaging with the work of John Street and more broadly the literature on celebrity politicians and by counterbalancing this conceptual framework with a critical reflection on Blair’s time as Middle East envoy

Music, mining and colonisation: Sámi contestations of Sweden’s self-narrative

Sweden’s dominant self-narrative has tended to marginalise its historical colonisation of Sápmi. This aspect of Swedish history sits uncomfortably with prevalent understandings of that self-identity. Indeed, there has been little emphasis on the historical subordination of Sámi people in political science scholarship on Swedish exceptionalism and internationalism. This article problematises this absence by centring the analysis on Sámi musician Sofia Jannok’s efforts to decolonise Sápmi through her music. The first part examines Sweden’s colonisation of Sápmi and the tensions between Sámi reindeer herding communities, mining interests and the Swedish state. This is followed by an exploration of the constitutive relationship between music, politics and celebrity, as sites of political communication.  A two-step analysis follows, investigating the broad themes in Sofia Jannok’s personal narrative and the discursive markers defining her music and politics. The analysis shows how her narrative intersects with the discursive themes of her musical expression and other engagements

The Politics of Feminist Foreign Policy and Digital Diplomacy

The overarching aim of the book is to provide the first comprehensive account of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy and its dissemination through digital diplomacy. In contrast to other scholarly studies of digital diplomacy that tend to view it as a technological and apolitical device for online diplomatic communication, this book examines the specific political dynamics of digital diplomacy. It posits that digital diplomacy is a highly political practice and form of communication. The book offers an in-depth examination of the interdependent relationship between digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy, with an empirical focus on Sweden. Additionally, it introduces a novel theoretical framework to analyse the political characteristics of digital diplomacy, emphasising the oscillation between antagonism and agonism at the intersection of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.In sum, the book provides new theoretical and empirical knowledge of why, how, and in what ways power-political dynamics are produced, sustained, and transformed within the contexts of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. While the focus centres on Sweden, the authors contend that their novel approach to examining the political dynamics of digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy applies to other country case studies as well

Caring feminist states? Paternalistic feminist foreign policies and the silencing of Indigenous justice claims in Sweden and Canada

The self-identification of Sweden and Canada as exceptionally caring and ethical states committed to the goal of global gender justice has been reinforced through their adoption of feminist foreign policies (FFPs). However, despite the enthusiasm surrounding the potential of feminism as an ethical approach to foreign policy making, critics have drawn attention to the many failings of FFPs that hamper their ability to bring about transformative change. This article posits that the shortcomings of Swedish and Canadian FFPs are rooted in an unacknowledged legacy of colonial power relations. It is from within this history of violence that Swedish and Canadian practices of feminism both “at home” and “abroad” can be seen as a re-articulation of colonialism. Through two illustrative narrative readings of reconciliation efforts, the article examines state provisions of hierarchically imposed, paternalistic expressions of care that silence Indigenous “articulations of self-care.” As such, it addresses a significant gap in the literature on FFPs by highlighting the risk of self-proclaimed “caring” feminist states reproducing colonial power relations within and beyond borders

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

Genetic associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate defines chronic kidney disease and is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), combining data across 133,413 individuals with replication in up to 42,166 individuals. We identify 24 new and confirm 29 previously identified loci. Of these 53 loci, 19 associate with eGFR among individuals with diabetes. Using bioinformatics, we show that identified genes at eGFR loci are enriched for expression in kidney tissues and in pathways relevant for kidney development and transmembrane transporter activity, kidney structure, and regulation of glucose metabolism. Chromatin state mapping and DNase I hypersensitivity analyses across adult tissues demonstrate preferential mapping of associated variants to regulatory regions in kidney but not extra-renal tissues. These findings suggest that genetic determinants of eGFR are mediated largely through direct effects within the kidney and highlight important cell types and biological pathways