Gender, Law, and Security: The Unseen Foundation of Global Stability

Security and the rule of law (ROL) are closely intertwined. It is commonly understood that laws exist to regulate human relations, both reflecting and establishing norms of behavior. Societies with strong ROL have built-in mechanisms for mediating conflicts through open and inclusive debate, in which all voices are treated equally, and outcomes are perceived as fair and reasonable (1). Weak ROL generates uncertainty, diminishing trust and impeding effective governance and development. In short, strong ROL promotes security and stability while weak ROL generates insecurity and instability (2). This is important for U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) since foreign internal defense (FID) and security force assistance (SFA), two of their core activities, are unlikely to achieve optimal effect in environments that are uncertain, insecure, and unstable because of specious legal systems.