Law and Strategy: Women Who Change the Rules of the Game
by Cristina Di Silvio and Annalisa Imparato
AISC News.. Global power doesn’t wait. It doesn’t grant. It takes.
For decades, international courts, diplomatic conferences, and multilateral treaties were male domains. Then they arrived. Women who don’t ask for permission, who translate abstract norms into operational justice. Decisions that shift strategic balances, save civilians, redefine state responsibilities. Julia Sebutinde at the International Court of Justice set precedents on state accountability and civilian protection. Fatou Bensouda prosecuted genocide and war crimes, applying the Rome Statute in real conflict contexts. Navi Pillay turned systemic sexual crimes into binding jurisprudence. Every ruling is deterrence. Every applied norm is command.
CEDAW, the Istanbul Convention, UN Resolution 1325 are not empty words. They are operational tools: civilian protection, female leadership in peace negotiations, conflict prevention. Every applied article reshapes alliances, destabilizes violence, strengthens state obligations. It’s not theory. It’s strategy. It’s on-the-ground decision-making.
Alongside jurisdiction, women have assumed key roles in geopolitics and international diplomacy. Madeleine Albright translated international law into operational tactics during the Balkan conflicts. Federica Mogherini and Susana Malcorra applied multilateral treaties, turning them into concrete, measurable agreements. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala intertwined trade law, sustainable development, and global economic governance, proving that diplomacy and law are not abstractions: they are levers of power, factors of stability, instruments of real leadership.
In times of open conflict in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East, humanitarian crises in Africa, and global migration, this leadership is not theory: it is an urgent necessity. Every norm is power, every article a manifesto. Beauty and law? An outdated notion. Charm and command walk hand in hand. Forbes and Fortune celebrate their careers, but what matters is independence. No compromise. No delegation of merit.
It’s not only about courts or ministries. In the corridors of multilateral negotiations, crisis rooms, and operational theaters on the ground, alliances, missions, and the fate of millions are decided. As Pasternak writes, others show us where we are fragile. Every international confrontation is a mirror: it reveals what we do not see and shapes what the world can become.
More women in international courts, foreign ministries, and negotiation tables means real justice and tangible security. Rigorous application of the Rome Statute, the Geneva Conventions, national laws, and regional protocols. Treaty reform according to global equity. Strengthening deterrence and accountability.
Power is not granted. It is built. They don’t ask for permission. They write it. Observers cannot ignore it. Just as Charvet’s tears reveal the clarity of humanity, female leadership in international law and geopolitics reveals the clarity of justice and security. It’s not the future. It’s not optional. It’s present. It’s mandatory. It’s a strategic revolution.
And the world is changing.
