![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/32325782351_30572f7b92_z.jpg\" "\\"Image")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Happy #IWD2017 for Wednesday, y\u2019all. It\u2019s no accident that all of this week\u2019s picks are either about women or by women. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/span><\/p>\n The Economist <\/span><\/i>has gifted us with their annual Glass Ceiling Index to show where women have the \u2018best chances of equal treatment at work\u2019. The Nordic nations still lead the pack, while Japan and South Korea are all the way down the other end; Australia\u2019s somewhere in the middle, though below the OECD average. Feast your eyes<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0where the surveyed nations sit with respect to measures including working environment, education, wage gap, paid leave, and women on boards and in parliaments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s stay with Japan for a minute. Another survey\u00a0released this week had some more poor news in store when it ranked Japan <\/span>163rd out of 193 countries for female representation in parliaments<\/span><\/a>, down from 156\/191 the previous year. So things aren\u2019t great, but one shining example\u2014indeed, a diamond in the rough\u2014is Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. <\/span>The FT<\/span><\/i> visited Koike, a former LDP Diet member, at her Tokyo pad<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to talk life and politics, but it was\u00a0her dog, So-chan, who stole\u00a0the show. Over at <\/span>The Interpreter<\/span><\/i>, Krystal Hartig checks in on PM Abe’s efforts to increase female participation<\/a> through his ‘womenomics’ initiative. And for the Council on Foreign Relations, Sheila Smith has pulled together short bios on seven women<\/a> who’ve\u00a0led the way in promoting an\u00a0understanding of Japan. On the list is the former US Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, who\u00a0championed gender equality while at post. Read more about Kennedy in this recent NYT<\/em> profile<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Masha Gessen\u2019s occasional column for <\/span>The New York Review of Books<\/span><\/i> has quickly become one of the must read voices on Russia. Catch up with her latest, on the Trump-Kremlin conspiracy (cover-up?), <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n There’s a good chance that International Women\u2019s Day was\u00a0acutely felt in Washington DC this year. With Hillary Clinton back in the press after a quiet few months, declaring that \u2018<\/span>the future is female<\/span><\/a>,\u2019 the World Economic Forum has<\/span> highlighted the goals that must be achieved<\/span><\/a> before we can realise that future. White House national security aide Sebastian Gorka has repeatedly reveled in his belief that\u00a0\u2018the alpha males are back\u2019<\/a> in charge of\u00a0<\/span>international relations under Trump. In a piece over at POLITICO<\/em><\/a>, three of Washington\u2019s Alpha Females\u2014Wendy Sherman, Mich\u00e8le Flournoy and Madeleine Albright\u2014dissect Trump\u2019s machismo-infused policy approach and, unsurprisingly, find it wanting. (For more, see the\u00a0podcast recommendation). Also on female superstars from America\u2019s officialdom,\u00a0<\/span>Quartz<\/span><\/i> has published a list<\/span><\/a>, based on CIA report from 1984, of seven outstanding female spies, who may have had a thing or two to say about the return of the \u201calpha male\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n A round of applause for our friends over at Lowy for their <\/span>all-women line-up<\/span><\/a> on 8 March. For our money,<\/span> Danielle Cave\u2019s article<\/span><\/a> on the banishing the ‘all-male panel’ stole the show. For those keen to break the manel\u2019s back, Danielle lists four excellent resources:\u00a0<\/span>one<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> two<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> three<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0four<\/a>. W<\/span>e\u2019d also like to add the exceptional<\/span> Foreign Policy Interrupted<\/span><\/a>\u2014sign up for their weekly mail-out for a smorgasbord of world-class analysis from exceptional women in the defence, foreign policy and security fields. And finally, on 20 March, readers can look forward to the release of <\/span>Foreign Policy<\/span><\/i>\u2019s first-ever women\u2019s issue<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n ASPI this week launched a new series on\u00a0<\/span>Women, Peace and Security<\/a><\/span>. In week one we’ve served up analysis from think-tankers, ADF members, academics and officials, with more to come as the debate\u00a0<\/a><\/span>unfolds over the next couple of weeks. As always, we\u2019re keen to improve the quality of the debate by featuring the work of female students, analysts, academics, commentators and strategists.\u00a0Please get in touch (editors@aspistrategist.ru<\/a>) if you\u00a0want to write for The Strategist<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcasts<\/b><\/p>\n Two good picks featuring America\u2019s first female Secretary of State, the unflagging Madeleine Albright. First is a new drop from David Axelrod\u2019s fantastic podcast, <\/span>The Axe Files<\/span><\/i>; <\/span>Albright talks about her<\/span><\/a> experience as a political refugee fleeing Czechoslovakia for the UK in the 1940\u2019s, US power, Trump\u2019s agenda and Steve Bannon (63 mins). In the second, Albright is part of a high-powered troika alongside Mich\u00e8le Flournoy and Wendy Sherman<\/a><\/span>; the three talk alpha-male natsec policy, their experiences as top-ranking female officials, and America as an \u2018indispensable nation\u2019, among others (45 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n The stellar team that brings you the \u2018Bombshell\u2019 podcast was this week joined by military history heavyweight Kori Schake\u00a0<\/span>to dissect Kim Jong-nam\u2019s assassination in Malaysia and, as always, offer thoughts on their top tipples for the week.<\/span> Check it out here<\/span><\/a> (50 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Video<\/b><\/p>\n In celebration of #IWD2017, CSIS\u2019s Smart Women, Smart Power project hosted the Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde for a chat about empowering women in the workplace, and policies and procedures that might help to achieve that end.<\/span> Watch how the conversation unfolded here<\/span><\/a> (57 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Brisbane: We\u2019re getting a good run-up to this event because it\u2019s sure to be a corker: Griffith University will host Texas A&M\u2019s Valerie Hudson on 2 May for a presentation on the Hillary Doctrine, WPS and gender in foreign policy in the time of Trump. After her remarks Hudson will continue the discussion with the dynamic duo of Sara Davies and Susan Harris Rimmer. Registration essential; details <\/span>over at Twitter<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Melbourne: Join Linda Jakobson and Bates Gill as they launch their new book,<\/span> China Matters: Getting It Right For Australia<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>The powerhouse team will be answering your questions at the State Library of Victoria on <\/span>30 March<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy #IWD2017 for Wednesday, y\u2019all. It\u2019s no accident that all of this week\u2019s picks are either about women or by women. Let\u2019s dive in. The Economist has gifted us with their annual Glass Ceiling Index …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":30852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,843,135,163,1868],"class_list":["post-30851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-japan","tag-russia","tag-wps"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n