Feminist Peace Summit Recap: Building A Movement-Driven U.S. Feminist Foreign Policy for Peace

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Women Cross DMZ, along with our Feminist Peace Initiative partners and the The Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative at the Sié Center for International Security and Diplomacy, co-hosted the Inaugural Feminist Peace Summit at the University of Denver. 

Between May 1-3, 2024, over 200 feminist scholars, activists, movement leaders, and community members discussed ways to advance a new U.S. foreign policy centered on feminist principles of peace, justice, and sustainability, and led by people of color, diasporic communities, and Indigenous Peoples. Plenary topics included why this political moment calls for feminist peace, how feminist foreign policy informed by diasporic wisdom can resolve global conflicts, what anti-militarist grassroots organizing looks like in communities of color, and how feminist strategies can confront growing authoritarianism across borders. In addition, we held over a dozen breakout groups on topics such as Palestine, migration and borders, sex and care work, feminist foreign policy, preventing a new Cold War, building intergenerational movements, Black and women’s nuclear abolition, organizing against the Global Right, diaspora organizing, climate and militarism, linking to policy, building narrative power, and funding the feminist peace movement. 

It was deeply heartening to reconnect with longtime friends and meet new ones, be inspired and challenged by new thinking, and, most importantly, to be in a collective space to witness  and affirm the power of the growing feminist and internationalist demilitarization movement in the United States. 

The summit was guided by three major themes:

1.  CHALLENGE U.S. MILITARISM AND WORK TO REPAIR HISTORICAL HARMS: Feminist foreign policy must go beyond simply getting women into existing patriarchal, militarist systems of violence. Instead, we need a new U.S. foreign policy that advances genuine security by prioritizing care, equity, sustainability, and being in “right relationship” with people and the planet. It must also include reparations for historical harms and injustices caused by U.S.-led wars, coups, and neoliberal economic policies that have stifled democracy and led to extensive violence and corruption around the world. 

2. GROUND FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY IN MOVEMENTS: In order to advance our vision of a truly just feminist foreign policy, we must center the voices and experiences of those most impacted by war and militarism, democratize the process of shaping foreign policy, and build a popular constituency. 

3.  BRIDGE THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY DIVIDE: To build a robust, feminist, demilitarization movement, we must break down the divide between domestic and foreign policy to advance new thinking and organizing. This requires strengthening our understanding of how militarism harms communities at home and abroad. For example, the Biden administration continues to under-resource diplomacy and support for feminist civil society while massively expanding the Pentagon budget. This militarized approach reinforces state-sanctioned violence, especially against communities of color, and siphons resources away from basic human needs. We cannot achieve genuine human security without building power across social movements working on both domestic and foreign policy. 

Instead of hearing from foreign policy elites whose perspectives are steeped in harmful, colonial and militarized thinking, the Feminist Peace Summit amplified the expertise of feminist grassroots leaders who have been most impacted by colonialism, imperialism, and militarism and who are working against war, militarism, violence, repression, and climate catastrophe. Their wisdom and experience are essential to our collective understanding of conflicts and to advance real community-based solutions for peace, security and justice. 

This gathering was a call to action: to strengthen our movement in this moment of radical and transformative political awakening against militarization, to collectively reimagine peace, security, and liberation through feminist values of care, cooperation, and centering the voices of those most impacted. Following the summit, and building on our previous “A Vision for a Feminist Peace,” we plan to produce a Feminist Foreign Policy for Peace Roadmap to outline our vision for bridging domestic and global movements for peace and justice. 

We asked participants a series of questions at the conclusion of the summit. Here are some of their responses:

“What shifted in your thinking after attending the Feminist Peace Summit?” 

• To centralize an anti-militarization approach in our feminist and foreign policy advocacy, activism, and relationship building
• More safe and sacred spaces like this to strengthen ourselves and each other
• Diasporic organizing as a path forward! Building a coalition of progressive feminist diaspora groups committed to demilitarizing the US empire and moving our war economy to a green and caring one
• We need activists, academics, policy analysts involved and together in this movement, to build connections across and between movements, contexts and sectors
• Policy spaces can and should be guided by love – and we shouldn’t be afraid to say this out loud! 

“What lessons must we learn in this moment to evolve the feminist peace movement?”

• We cannot shy away from the halls of power but must understand that change in policy is far more than change in personnel
• Lean into being uncomfortable and build bridges with groups working on different issues as they are all interconnected
• We have to learn how to sustain ourselves through care & embrace growing pains as not divisive, but transformative
• Need more non-aligned mass movement based on feminism to hold liberal feminist structures that serve the state accountable
• Decenter the self, elevate the community, our source of power
• Resource this movement and map the ecosystem so that we can prioritize where to lift up power in key positions
• Be more thoughtful and nuanced than those whose power we are trying to undo

“What commitment are you walking away with to sustain our movement?”

• Becoming more active in supporting Palestine as it is a flashpoint interconnected with all of our struggles
• Don’t discount people just because we don’t see 100% eye-to-eye on something
• Hold space for grief but to also experience joy like Yanar Mohammed reminded us!
• Remain true to my values and actions of base building and centering directly impacted people on the front lines
• To keep seeking out radical spaces and connections, to keep expanding the network of comrades engaged in this multipolar work 
• Build stronger relationships with each other to FREE PALESTINE and all oppressed peoples 
• Raise feminists

Speakers at the Feminist Peace Summit included: 

• Christine Ahn (Women Cross DMZ)
• Marie Berry (University of Denver)
• Linda Burnham (Project 2050)
• Diana Duarte (MADRE)
• Cynthia Enloe (Clark University)
• Kitzia Esteva (Grassroots Global Justice Alliance)
• Nana Gyamfi (Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives)
• Toni Haastrup (University of Manchester)
• Sara Haghdoosti (Win Without War)
• Lara Kiswani (Arab Resource and Organizing Center)
• Xochitl Larios (CURY J)
• Diana Lopez (Southwest Workers Union)
• Yanar Mohammed (Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq)
• Margo Okazawa-Rey (San Francisco State University)
• Kavita Ramdas (Princeton University)
• Sandy Shan (Justice is Global)
• Halema Wali (Afghans for a Better Tomorrow)
• Janene Yazzie (NDN Collective)

Thank you to all of our co-sponsors and donors who made this gathering possible, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Pax Sapiens. We left the Feminist Peace Summit smarter, sharper, and filled with new energy and determination to realize a truly just and peaceful world for all.  

• Moderator – Marie Berry: Director of the Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative (IGLI) and the Sié Cheou Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, University of Denver Korbel School of International Studies
• Panelists
  • Toni Haastrup: Chair of Global Politics, University of Manchester 
  • Cynthia Enloe: Professor, Department of Sustainability and Social Justice, Clark University 
  • Margo Okazawa Rey: Professor Emerita San Francisco State University 

• Moderator – Kavita Ramdas: Feminist Activist, Visiting Professor at Princeton University, Former Director of Open Society Foundation Women’s Rights Program 
• Panelists 
  • Lara Kiswani: Executive Director, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) 
  • Sara Hagdoosti: Executive Director, Win Without War 
  • Christine Ahn: Founder and Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ 
  • Sandy Shan: Justice is Global 

• Moderator – Kitzia Esteva: Gender Justice National Organizer, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance 
• Panelists
  • Janene Yazzie: Director of Policy and Advocacy, NDN Collective 
  • Nana Gyamfi: Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Co-Founder, Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives 
  • Diana Lopez: Executive Director, South Western Workers Union 
  • Xochitl Larios – Communities United for Restorative Justice – Defunding policing and Carceral Systems / Youth Organizing 

• Moderator – Diana Duarte: Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement at MADRE 
• Panelists
  • Yanar Mohammed: Co-Founder and President, Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq 
  • Linda Burnham: Women’s Rights and Racial Justice Writer and Activist, Co-Editor of Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections 
  • Halema Wali: Co-Founder and Director of Community Engagement, Afghans for a Better Tomorrow 
  • Yoon Ra: Cultural Organizer, Red Canary Song

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