Valerie Hudson, one of the authors of ‘Sex and World Peace’, has made the compelling case that, just as state security impacts on women’s security, so women’s security significantly impacts on state security, something that has barely been discussed within the field of international relations. In fact, she argues, the best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its wealth, democracy or any of the other traditional factors highlighted in international relations theories, but how well women are treated in a state. The greater the gap between the treatment of men and women in a state, the more likely it is that the state will be involved in intra- and interstate conflict.
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