Beyond Gender Advice: NATO’s Implementation of the Women Peace and Security Agenda

Following the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was forced to reinvent itself from a defence organisation with a regional Euro-Atlantic focus to a security organisation with a global focus. The core task of crisis management and a changing strategic concept are the backdrop against which NATO implemented the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda through the Bi-Strategic Command Directive (Bi-SCD 40-001) Integrating United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and Gender Perspectives into the NATO Command Structure. The sustained process for operationalising UNSCR 1325 and gender mainstreaming involved the creation of gender advisor positions as part of a commander’s advisory staff. At the strategic level, NATO’s most senior military officers were quick to recognise the potential of gender mainstreaming to positively influence the perception of civil society and other international security organisations. At the operational and tactical levels, the implementation of the WPS agenda and the acceptance of gender advisors continues to experience resistance. Using an analytical research method, this article critically examines the three versions of Bi-SCD 40-001, the progression of gender advisors from advisory staff to a military capability, and the potential for a human rights-based approach, common in the development sector, to be implemented across the NATO command structure