Smart Women, Smart Power

SWSP is creating space for women in one of the most powerful decision-making spaces in the world: national security and foreign affairs

The Smart Women, Smart Power (SWSP) Initiative has a simple starting point: people are policy. We are committed to creating a platform for respectful and inclusive discussion of the many ways in which women influence and impact the international security, foreign policy and business agendas. The Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative launched in December 2014.

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Featured Event

Featured Analysis

Photo: K. Kassens/U.S. Army via DVIDS

Photo: K. Kassens/U.S. Army via DVIDS

Women: Mission Essential Personnel

Women in the joint force are a decisive U.S. advantage. In a strategic environment wherein China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are learning from each other, the joint force needs every advantage it can get if the Trump administration intends to defend U.S. interests.

Commentary by Kathleen McInnis — November 18, 2024

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Countering China and Russia: The Hidden Advantages of Women, Peace, and Security

Gender perspectives can be better utilized to identify means to more effectively collaborate with partner nations and strengthen U.S. deterrence. This brief argues that the Women, Peace, and Security tool kit should be utilized as a strategic enabler for DoD activities.

Brief by Kathleen McInnis, Benjamin Jensen, Audrey Aldisert, and Alexis Day — November 14, 2024

Photo: CSIS

Photo: CSIS

What Difference Does It Make?

What does having women sitting at international affairs decisionmaking tables actually get us? This Smart Women, Smart Power report sheds light on the powerful contributions that women make in some of the most influential spaces in the world.

Report by Kathleen McInnis and Alexis Day — October 15, 2024

Photo: Paval Hadzinski/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed)

Why Dictators are Afraid of Girls

Rethinking Gender and National Security

Gender plays a powerful role in the construction and promulgation of power and identity that is particularly meaningful in authoritarian regimes.

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Featured Podcasts

Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

Beating Putin’s Playbook

Marie-Doha Besancenot, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO, joins to discuss the different ways NATO is prioritizing this space.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — July 12, 2024

See all podcast episodes by the SWSP Podcast

Featured Events

Photo: Rafael Henrique via Adobe Stock

Photo: Rafael Henrique via Adobe Stock

The Future of NATO is Female

July 10, 2024 • 10:00 – 10:30 am EDT
Video On Demand
Hosted by Smart Women, Smart Power
Photo: JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images

Lessons from Myanmar

May 1, 2024 • 10:00 – 10:30 am EDT
Video On Demand
Hosted by Smart Women, Smart Power
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Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

Whole of Society Resilience Lessons from Russia-Ukraine

Dr. Kathleen McInnis sits down with Lieutenant Colonel Scott Murphy, visiting U.S. Marine Corps military fellow and Iryna Nykorak, Ukrainian Minister of Parliament, and founder of ArmWomenNow, about the importance of resiliency and how to prepare the entirety of society for conflict.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — April 17, 2025

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power

Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania

The United States has a major vulnerability it needs to address: China is exploiting an immigration loophole in the U.S. territory of Saipan, posing a security and counterintelligence threat to U.S. bases and installations in the region.

Commentary by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025

Audio Briefs

Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania

An audio version of “Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania,” a new commentary by CSIS's Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025

Audio Briefs

Why the Women, Peace, and Security Act Strengthens U.S. Defense Strategy

The Women, Peace, and Security Act programs implemented by the Department of Defense already comport with Trump administration policy. Put simply, WPS provides the DOD with a toolkit to make the joint force more tactically effective and strategically capable.

Critical Questions by Kathleen McInnis — February 11, 2025

Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

The Weaponization of Data

Pavlina Pavlova, a #ShareTheMicInCyber Fellow at New America and Cybercrime Expert at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)joins to share insights from her recent research on the weaponization of data, highlighting how data breaches and cyberattacks have a gendered dimension, especially throughout the healthcare system.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — January 31, 2025

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power

To Infinity and Beyond: OpenAI to the New Space Race

On this episode, Ashley Pilipiszyn discusses her decision to take a job at OpenAI or finish her PhD. In addition, the group delves into the growing space race between China and the United States.

Event — December 19, 2024

Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

To Infinity and Beyond: Open AI to the New Space Race

On this episode, Kathleen McInnis and Lauren Bedula explore Ashley Pilipiszyn’s decision and delve into the growing space race between China and the United States.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis and Lauren Bedula — December 19, 2024

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power