Keywords

6.1 Introduction

The pivot towards feminism within Sweden’s foreign policy marked a profoundly political move, sparking resonance, contestation, resistance and antagonism. This book has examined the interplay between digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy, with a focus on Sweden as a case. The former Swedish government’s bold embrace of an overtly feminist foreign policy can be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to firmly position itself in global politics, aspiring to “become the strongest global voice for gender equality” (Government Offices of Sweden, 2018). This deliberate positioning not only offered unparalleled avenues for asserting leadership in global gender politics but also signified a transformative and globally influential diplomatic approach, originally pioneered by Sweden and subsequently echoed by other states as well (Achilleos-Sarll, 2018; Robinson, 2021; Thomson, 2020; Zhukova et al., 2022).

Furthermore, digital technologies have had a transformative effect on diplomacy, triggering significant changes in the ways states engage with foreign policy, thereby reshaping conventional diplomatic practices. This book has demonstrated how the launch and adoption of feminist foreign policy required the usage of digital platforms and social media channels to amplify visibility and facilitate political outreach and engagement. Thus, the nexus of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy has elicited widespread support while concurrently provoking resistance from states and other global actors.

While our focus has been on Sweden, our distinct approach to the analysis of the political dynamics of foreign policy and digital diplomacy is applicable to other states that have sought to achieve normative foreign policy shifts through the use of digital platforms. This emerging trend reflects the political dynamics of a gradually more networked world where ideas and norms travel faster than ever before (Jackson, 2019; Zaharna et al., 2014). Thus, it is increasingly important to understand the intersections between states’ foreign policies and their use of digital diplomacy. However, knowledge of the intersection between normative foreign policy and digital diplomacy remains scarce. In this book, we have offered ample opportunities to fill this gap. Below, we synthesise the key theoretical and empirical findings of the book. Subsequently, we engage in a forward-looking discussion, exploring the potential for transformative feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy amidst a turbulent world marked by gendered dynamics, geopolitical changes, growing polarisation, autocracy, militarism, etc. We argue that gender equality and justice are now central in global politics, requiring advocates of feminist foreign policy to adopt strategies that can effectively address such challenges, not least on digital platforms.

6.2 Key Findings and Contributions

This book rests on a novel analytical framework that enables a close examination of the intersections between the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. We have argued that digital diplomacy is a highly political form of communication rather than a neutral and apolitical practice. Similarly, feminist foreign policy is inherently political, resting on states and other actors’ politicisation of gender justice and equality globally. In the book, we have analysed the politicisation of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy, focusing on resonance, contestation, resistance and antagonism. While Sweden’s feminist foreign policy found resonance with various global actors, it also led to contestation and resistance. Such dissonance often emerges from states’ different ideological positions on women’s sexual and reproductive rights, as well as their entitlement to bodily integrity. As shown in this book, there is a fluctuation between antagonism and agonism at the intersection of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. The Swedish case demonstrates how such fluctuating political dynamics profoundly shape the ways states navigate, influence and respond to global developments and how political dynamics are produced, maintained and altered in digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy. To substantiate these claims, we have examined distinct forms of politicisation in the digital diplomatic communication of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy by focusing on foreign policy leadership (Chap. 3), nation branding (Chap. 4), and its use of visuality (Chap. 5) in digital diplomacy. Guiding the analysis of these categories are three key concepts that we systematically applied in all three chapters: (1) articulation, (2) resonance and (3) contestation. This distinct approach enabled us to empirically unpack the questions of why, how and in what ways the politics of digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy are viewed as catalysing factors for conflict and cooperation in contemporary global politics.

6.2.1 The Politicised Nexus Between Foreign Policy Leadership and Digital Communication

The results emerging from our empirical analysis demonstrate the seminal role of Sweden’s diplomatic leadership in the initiation and advancement of feminist foreign policy, with particular emphasis on the use of digital diplomacy to bolster the objectives and norms associated with the country’s feminist aspirations. A key facet of this analysis involved the interrogation of political leaders’ involvement in articulating, resonating and contesting feminist foreign policy within the digital realm. Central to our findings is the recognition of foreign minister Margot Wallström as a principal agent propelling the articulation, adoption and implementation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy agenda. Wallström’s normative entrepreneurship and leadership were identified as pivotal factors in the mobilisation of the political backing for Sweden’s feminist foreign policy endeavours, both domestically and internationally. The absence of such entrepreneurial vigour and assertiveness would likely have curtailed the resonance of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy with other states, civil society organisations and transnational actors. Notably, Wallström consistently disseminated her vision of a more gender-just global order to diverse online audiences, viewing Sweden’s feminist foreign policy as an ethical as well as a strategic agenda. Moreover, the analysis further revealed instances wherein countries such as Canada and Germany, both of which sought to replicate the expansive ambitions and articulations of Swedish feminist foreign policy. Indeed, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has on several occasions praised the Swedish government’s pioneering feminist efforts.

The book also addressed the impact of political leadership and gendered contestation on social media platforms, with particular emphasis on Sweden’s involvement in the #shedecides digital campaign. This campaign, precipitated by the reinstatement of the US global gag rule by the Trump administration, posed substantial threats to women’s sexual and reproductive rights on a global scale. In short, the results stress the centrality of digital platforms in shaping the political landscape of foreign policy leadership, engendering a diverse spectrum of global reactions, some of which are overtly antagonistic. As such, it elucidates the multifaceted role of political leadership in evoking various emotive responses in global politics, with digital communications of foreign policy leadership constituting an inherently politicised practice.

6.2.2 Digital Nation Branding: Reorienting and Politicising Foreign Policy

Sweden’s feminist foreign policy brand, we have argued, rested on its longstanding state feminist tradition, commitment to global gender justice, and self-identity as a technologically advanced nation, dedicated to digital communication, transformation and diplomacy. To attract attention, and rally support for its feminist ambitions, Sweden actively engaged in diplomatic communication, employing innovative methods, including digital campaigns and visual techniques. Thus, in part at least, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was an exercise in feminist branding sustained by the active use of digital diplomacy. Central to this strategic approach was the utilisation of pragmatism and policy adaptability, incorporating the integration of digital advocacy into the articulation of feminist foreign policy. In substantiating this argument, we examined the case of Sweden’s adoption of hashtag feminism, specifically analysing its effectiveness in eliciting resonance among global audiences, particularly within digital advocacy networks. We also thoroughly examined the challenges and contestation triggered by Sweden’s projection of a feminist image, notably highlighted by the controversies stemming from its state visit to Iran in 2017. The analysis elucidates the inherently politicised nature of digital diplomacy and nation branding. Indeed, nation brands serve as fertile ground for the reorientation and politicisation of foreign policy objectives, giving rise to both contestation and policy resonance.

6.2.3 Practicing Feminist Foreign Policy: Global Visibility and Digital Strategies

The diffusion of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy in global politics was made possible by the efficient utilisation of online platforms, leveraging visual language, symbolic representation and heightened global visibility. The launch and trajectory of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy involved the management of visual representations.

The amplification and resonance of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy were bolstered by the strategic political mobilisation of visual representations and digital visibility frameworks. To examine the role of visual language in the political articulation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, we conducted an analysis of the renowned photo exhibition “Swedish Dads”, which served as an effective catalyst for discussions aligning Sweden’s global feminist foreign policy with pertinent gender discourses at local levels. Moreover, the WikiGap initiative designed to enhance the online visibility of women’s stories and experiences illustrates how Sweden’s feminist foreign policy enabled the country to contest the online silencing of women’s experiences and pointing to their central role in producing knowledge, thus foregrounding their pivotal contributions to history and knowledge dissemination.

The results in this book demonstrate the interconnectedness between feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. Without digital diplomacy, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy would have faced challenges in inspiring other states to embrace feminist platforms in their external conduct. Transnational feminism increasingly relies on digital communication and technologies (Vachhani, 2023; Youngs, 2015), whereby feminist and intersectional ideas about gender-just peace, reproductive rights, women’s human rights, and development are dispersed online worldwide. While civil society organisations traditionally spearhead such advocacy, an increasing number of states engage in online feminism, often under the framing of feminist foreign policy, employing a range of politicised digital strategies to reach target audiences. Sweden’s WikiGap and Swedish Dad campaigns are instructive examples here, eliciting resonance and antagonist reactions amongst global actors and states.

6.3 Reorientation and Cessation of Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy

[G]ender equality is a core value for Sweden and this government, but we will not conduct a feminist foreign policy”… Because labels on things have a tendency to cover up the content. (Tobias Billström, Sweden’s foreign minister, quoted in Thomas, 2022)

After the Swedish elections in the autumn of 2022, a new conservative government was formed with the support of the populist radical right party, the Sweden Democrats, that openly dismisses feminism. Within a few days, the new foreign minister, Tobias Billström, declared an end to the country’s feminist foreign policy. The reasons for this drastic foreign policy move can be explained by both domestic and international factors. In the domestic context, feminist foreign policy had become intimately linked to the Social Democratic party and former foreign minister Margot Wallström. Scrapping Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was, therefore, a strong signal of governmental politics (Hermann, 1990) and a move to break with the legacy of the Social Democratic reign between 2014 and 2022. Seen in this light, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy doctrine could be viewed as a Social Democratic label, rather than a bipartisan political venture, enjoying broad political consensus.

This development attests both to the weaknesses and strengths of digital diplomacy. Sweden’s feminist foreign policy lasted eight years. We propose here that feminist foreign policy, no matter how effectively communicated across social media, cannot be confined to digital nation branding alone, but ultimately needs to be rooted in society and combined with the structural transformation of the intersecting power relations that undergird global gender politics. It is about transformative change and the creation of a more inclusive, equitable and gender-responsive world order. In this regard, the swift discontinuation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy and the subsequent absence of a more robust public debate shows that the feminist foreign policy was not as firmly ingrained in Swedish foreign policy orientation as presumed. This might be explained by the fact that Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was not as radically disposed as one might have expected it to be, with many diplomatic practices being quite similar to those used in previous periods, and, as such, it relied on already existing international and transnational mechanisms, practices and frameworks.

This can be contrasted with another significant foreign policy initiative taken by the Social Democratic government in 2014, namely, the diplomatic recognition of the state of Palestine. Initiated almost concurrently with the launch of the feminist foreign policy, this move aimed in a similar way to signify a transition towards a more independent Swedish foreign policy and to assert ambition in assuming foreign policy leadership in global affairs. Despite considerable controversy surrounding the diplomatic recognition of Palestine at the time, the new Swedish government in 2022 still opted to uphold this policy despite opposition from its minor coalition partners—the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party—both advocating for its repeal.

Despite the termination of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, we can establish that feminist foreign policy is now a global phenomenon spearheaded and emulated by several other governments. The diffusion and adoption of feminist foreign policy by other states could be seen as a success story, enabled by Sweden’s novel digital advocacy, a key feature of its feminist foreign policy. Moreover, the institutionalisation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, in terms of gender equality training and gender-informed working routines and practices of diplomacy in the broad context of Swedish external relations, has produced a lasting legacy (Towns et al., 2023). Hence, the label, although an essential part of the discursive projection of feminist foreign policy, was at least in part accompanied by authentic and tangible foreign policy change and practice. As the Swedish case suggests, states committed to feminist foreign policy need to ensure their feminist advocacy is paired with active engagement with civil society and other actors, domestically and globally, as well as open public dialogue.

But the discontinuation of feminist foreign policy also signals the initiation of a major reorientation of Sweden’s contemporary foreign and security policy due to the dramatically changing geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s subsequent application for NATO membership enforced a new preference for a foreign policy largely informed by national security interests in its adjacent neighbourhood. This context of a deteriorating security environment moved Sweden away from its normative commitments and values, a process that commenced before the elections in 2022. During its last year in office, the Social Democratic government focused on upgrading the Swedish defence force as well as preparing the country’s NATO application (Wright & Rosamond, 2023).

This book has on several occasions underlined the noticeable growing trends of antagonistic anti-gender politics and ‘alpha male foreign policy’ in a world defined by securitisation, militarism, populism and gender backlash (Susan, 2017). The discontent with the liberal world order has engendered support from both far-right and Islamic extremist fractions. These movements recruit adherents by advocating practices detrimental to women’s rights and wellbeing. Indeed, anti-feminist far-right parties are in power in a range of countries, including India, Hungary and Turkey, to name a few. Typically, such parties share an aversion to globalisation, multiculturalism, immigration and gender equality, often outright dismissing feminism and feminist activism. Their policies are defined by heteronormative values and definitions of gender, biological sex and the nation, often using toxic masculinist narratives to dismiss feminist ideas, notions of gender equality, and, as such, promoting traditional family values and gender roles (Norocel & Pettersson, 2022). Hence, the changing geopolitical context does not imply that security concerns replace the need for normative values; these elements are highly interlinked. Full-scale wars and conflicts also tend to produce gendered harms such as displacement and sexual and gender-based violence (Kronsell & Svedberg, 2011; Wilcox, 2015).

6.4 New Frontiers of Research

Research on the relationship between foreign policy and digital diplomacy is gradually expanding. However, there is less research focusing on the interplay between normative questions of feminism, gender and foreign policy. As demonstrated in this book, feminist foreign policy stands out as an example of how digital platforms are productive in articulating foreign policy reorientation, political narratives and forging alliances, and how social media spaces are essential in producing resonance and contestation of feminist foreign policy in global politics. By way of conclusion, we propose three avenues for researching the intersection between feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy, delineating their potential both as state practice in global politics and as a burgeoning field of scholarship.

First, this book has stressed the need to better understand how foreign policy reorientation happens in a primarily digital global information environment and how activist foreign policies are furthered or challenged by the reach and influence of social media platforms. As we have argued, it is crucial to approach digital diplomacy as a profoundly political practice anchored in the politics of foreign policy and the digital information environment. The findings of this book suggest that the convergence of these power-political dynamics is more frequent than studies of digital diplomacy, usually show. Neglecting the digital component in the analysis of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy would entail overlooking numerous factors contributing to its effective (re)positioning of Sweden as a global advocate for gender equality. To further our knowledge, we need comprehensive studies across a range of domestic and international political contexts that analyse the efficiency of state advocacy in foreign policy, and how it mobilises online publics. This involves conducting comparative analyses of the translation of feminist-informed foreign policies into states’ digital diplomacy strategies. It also engages in ethical considerations in regards to the employment of digital methods in seeking political influence and maintaining a clear separation between digital advocacy and malicious forms of digital disinformation. Understanding these nuances of how states engage in normative advocacy in the digital landscape is crucial for grasping the evolving gendered lines of geopolitical conflicts.

Second, the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy bring other forms of international cooperation, actors and material factors to the analysis of global politics. As demonstrated in this book, Sweden’s digital diplomacy mimicked other actors’ use of digital advocacy strategies (Hall, 2019). The Swedish Social Democratic party’s tradition of activist foreign policy and close alignment with social movements partly explain the successful translation of feminist foreign policy into digital diplomacy. Acknowledging the interplay between politicising processes of articulation, resonance and contestation within digital diplomacy and foreign policy, we can attain a more profound understanding of how states navigate and mould global political narratives and alliances. To be effective, digital diplomacy must be credible. Our empirical analyses show how and when digital diplomacy stirred contestation of the feminist foreign policy when credibility was questioned, for instance, in the case of the state visit to Iran in 2017 as discussed in Chap. 3. To further our understanding of the role of credible signals in diplomacy (Cohen, 1987) in the digital age (Duncombe, 2017), we need more research on how digital diplomacy may contribute to or jeopardise such processes. We also established that cooperation with new and at times unorthodox actors, such as the open-sourced Internet-based encyclopedia Wikipedia, was one of the most tangible ways whereby Sweden’s feminist foreign policy could contribute to addressing global gender imbalances as shown in Chap. 5. Therefore, digital platforms, tools and services are not only mechanisms for extending reach and exerting influence but are also shaped by patriarchal structures, capable of generating change. In future explorations of the intersection of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy, we suggest that more attention is placed on the influential role of non-state actors in the digital economy.

Third, as we have emphasised throughout this book, the quest for gender equality in foreign policy cannot be separated from patriarchal and adversarial gendered power dynamics that are becoming increasingly prevalent in global politics. Moreover, we recognise that even within feminist foreign policy frameworks, the potential exists for perpetuating power imbalances. Hence, future research should closely study the tendency amongst some states to privilege hegemonic masculinist understandings of gender in their articulation and conduct of foreign policy, and thereby reduce the significance of feminist ideals, norms and practices that actively seek to transform the gendered world order. Expanding on this research could involve exploring case studies of specific countries or regions to examine how gender policies are formulated and implemented, and how they impact wider societal structures. Additionally, investigating the role of international organisations and alliances in shaping gender narratives within foreign policy practice provides further insights into the broader dynamics at play in such policy-making. Examining the intersections between gender and other social identities, such as race, class and sexuality would also contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the wider power relations that impact feminist foreign policy and practice. Lastly, exploring the potential role of grassroots movements and civil society in challenging and reshaping gender norms within foreign policy frameworks offer practical insights into fostering change that transcends traditional gender norms and biases.