As civilian casualties mount in Gaza and many more conflicts around the world kill and displace vulnerable people, we ask, "What can feminist foreign policy do about war crimes?"

The international community doesn’t have a great track record of timely intervention to stop atrocities. But one-sided military intervention can also be a recipe for disaster.

In this episode, we hear from activists in Rwanda and Afghanistan about how their work protects the vulnerable and what they wish international feminists would do differently. And we hear from an expert on international hierarchies about how feminist foreign policy fits into the long history of attempts to end genocide — and who intervention has historically served.

GUESTS: Mary Balikungeri, Director and Founder of Rwanda Women’s Network; Dr. Toni Haastrup, Chair in Global Politics at the University of Manchester; Salma, activist with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The Rwanda Women’s Network

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)

Statement of Intent on Feminist Informed Policies Abroad and at Home, The African Feminist Collective on Feminist Informed Policies

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, UN

Background on the Responsibility to Protect, UN

Women Peace and Security Agenda (UN Resolution 1325), UN

On May 19, 2024 there was an attempted coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the government there alleges that American citizens were involved in the plot. (DRC army says it stopped attempted coup involving US citizens, Reuters) The incident appears to be largely separate from the conflict on DRC’s eastern border that we discuss in this episode and the US has denied any involvement in the attempted coup.

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas

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