The Inextricable Link Between Gendered Security and State Stability: Strategic Costs of U.S. Humanitarian Retrenchment

This thesis examines the strategic consequences of the 2025 U.S. foreign aid freeze on gendered security in conflict-affected states, focusing on Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. It argues that gendered security—the protection, empowerment, and rights of women and girls—is not a peripheral humanitarian concern but a foundational determinant of state stability, development, and democratic resilience. Through a qualitative comparative case study methodology, the research synthesizes empirical literature, United Nations reports, human rights documentation, and cross-national statistical analyses to demonstrate how the collapse of gender-focused humanitarian programs following the aid freeze will critically exacerbate conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), weaken state institutions, and obstruct post-conflict recovery efforts. Building from a detailed historical analysis of U.S. humanitarian policy shifts and the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda, the thesis identifies shared patterns of gender-based violence across the three case studies, including the strategic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, the proliferation of trafficking and exploitation in displacement contexts, and the denial of reproductive and psychosocial health services. A thematic synthesis reveals that the dismantling of gender protection systems correlates with broader indicators of governance collapse, prolonged armed conflict, and stalled economic recovery. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that where gendered security deteriorates, national stability erodes; conversely, where women’s rights and leadership are secured, peace and development are significantly more sustainable. The thesis contends that U.S. humanitarian retrenchment targeting gendered programs constitutes a moral failure and a strategic miscalculation, undermining long-term American foreign policy interests and global security more broadly. Future stabilization efforts must, therefore, re-center gendered security as a non-negotiable pillar of conflict recovery and international peacebuilding.