Evolution Without Progress? Tracing the Contested Expansion of Women, Peace, and Security Agenda (WPS) in International Organizations With Evidence From the UN, EU, and NATO

This article examines how the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and NATO have expanded their Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, questioning whether this normative expansion denotes an “evolution without progress.” By bridging constructivist norm contestation theory with feminist institutionalism, the study explores the transition from discursive mandate expansion to behavioral contestation through budgetary allocations and implementation mechanisms. Employing a qualitative research design, the article compares institutional patterns across three distinct organizational contexts, the UN as a global norm entrepreneur, the EU as regional security community, and NATO as a military alliance, across WPS mandates, budgeting, and implementation practices. The findings demonstrate that while the conceptual and institutional expansion of WPS across these organizations reflects significant applicatory contestation, an asymmetry emerges where mandate expansion outpaces budgetary allocation and implementation by states. Normative robustness is frequently hindered by bureaucratic absorption, structural inertia, and fragmented financing. Furthermore, the agenda faces growing validity contestation, evidenced by gender backlash at the state level and the formal withdrawal of Feminist Foreign Policies. The expansion of the WPS agenda remains largely discursive as persistent implementation gaps highlight the limits of institutional evolution in the absence of genuine normative progress.