During the 75th NATO anniversary and latest NATO summit in July, the alliance renewed its Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) policy, with implications for Balkan countries both inside the alliance (Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) and outside of it (Bosnia-Herzegovina [BiH], Kosovo, and Serbia). Two countries that aspire to join NATO – BiH and Kosovo – have faced challenges wrought by the gendered legacy of war, but recent advancements suggest a promising path forward. In this moment of renewed interest in the WPS agenda, implementing further WPS reforms can provide NATO hopefuls with strategic advantage in their efforts to join the alliance.
The WPS agenda was launched in 2000 with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which connected gender to the global peace and security agenda. Nearly 25 years and 10 resolutions later, the core messages of the WPS agenda have become common sense: Armed conflict has an inordinate impact on women and girls, and achieving a lasting, positive peace requires the meaningful inclusion of women in peacemaking, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding efforts.