Historical Developments in International Affairs and Deep Insights Into the Case Agencies

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 4 provides a brief historical analysis of international affairs and each of the four case agencies—the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence, Department of Home Affairs, and Australian Federal Police. It dissects the policy and organisational environments and traces the current more women-informed and feminist turn in foreign policy. This chapter is particularly important in grappling with the different organisational histories of the agencies and how they have evolved over time with regards to opening opportunities for women. Through doing so, the historical basis of much of the agency’s contemporary challenges is revealed, which provides an important basis for later discussions around how gendered challenges to international leadership have evolved over time. The ramifications this has for other analyses is significant, highlighting that women’s increasing representation does not automatically correlate with a reduction in gendered (and other) inequalities—emblematic of a glass cliff. The chapter further highlights that visibility or invisibility of gendered challenges may impact on women’s representation, and remains to be an important area for analysis.