The Morning After Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War

Looks at the end of the Cold War and places women at the center of international politics. Focusing on the relationship between the politics of sexuality and the politics of militarism, this title charts the changing definitions of gender roles, sexuality, and militarism at the end of the twentieth century.

"Enloe contends that the U.S. military is masculine potency, writ large. But, what happens when the military begins to shrink? In pursuing this question, Enloe shows us the world through a feminist prism. Briskly paced and provocatively argued, The Morning After is fascinating reading."—Edwin Dorn, The Brookings Institution

"Feminist trailblazer Cynthia Enloe has done it again. Turning her ghostbusting intellect on the sexual politics of the post-Cold War New International Disorder, Enloe once again demonstrates her unique capacity to track the subtleties and mutations of the illicit relationship between masculinity and militarism. For an intellectual journey through the Free Trade Agreement, Steve Canyon, Tailhook, women fighter pilots or resurgent nationalism, no guide is more astute or witty than Cynthia Enloe."—Judith Stacey, University of California, Davis, author of Brave New Families

"Once again, Cynthia Enloe has broken new ground . . . . In this lively, undogmatic, and very readable book, Enloe examines the gendering of war in order to explain—and explore alternatives to—militarism and its costly effects."—V. Spike Peterson, editor, Gendered States: Feminist (Re) Visions of International Relations Theory

Cynthia Enloe's riveting new book looks at the end of the Cold War and places women at the center of international politics. Focusing on the relationship between the politics of sexuality and the politics of militarism, Enloe charts the changing definitions of gender roles, sexuality, and militarism at the end of the twentieth century. In the gray dawn of this new era, Enloe finds that the politics of sexuality have already shifted irrevocably. Women glimpse the possibilities of democratization and demilitarization within what is still a largely patriarchal world. New opportunities for greater freedom are seen in emerging social movements - gays fighting for their place in the American military, Filipina servants rallying for their rights in Saudi Arabia, Danish women organizing against the European Community's Maastricht treaty. Enloe also documents the ongoing assaults against women as newly emerging nationalist movements serve to reestablish the privileges of masculinity. The voices of real women are heard in this book. They reach across cultures, showing the interconnections between military networks, jobs, domestic life, and international politics. "The Morning After" will spark new ways of thinking about the complexities of the post-Cold War period, and it will bring contemporary sexual politics into the clear light of day as no other book has done.