HOW WOMEN IN DIPLOMACY CHANGED THE WAY I SEE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

On International Day of Women in Diplomacy, Amy Hawking examines global leadership as a question of how authority is constructed and sustained under conditions of constraint, rather than simply who holds power. Across diplomacy, crisis management, and multilateral governance, leadership is increasingly shaped by legitimacy, communication, and institutional interdependence rather than coercive capacity alone. Examining the rise of women in diplomacy, alongside figures such as Angela Merkel and Jacinda Ardern, reveals that leadership is not a fixed attribute of individuals or states, but a contested practice formed through negotiation, visibility, and public trust within complex global systems.