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Episode 86

86. Women at the Peace Table: Why It Works and Why It's Still a Struggle // Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

83 min·April 7, 2026·Peacemaking

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Show notes

What you'll hear

In this episode, I sit down with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini — peace strategist, founder of the International Civil Society Action Network and one of the architects of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 — to talk about what it actually takes to build lasting peace. We cover the research behind women's inclusion in peace processes, how a scrappy international coalition got a landmark resolution passed at the UN Security Council, why women's unique approach to peacebuilding is a superpower rather than a liability, and what ordinary people can do right now when the architecture of international peace feels like it's crumbling.

  • 00:00 — Introduction to Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
  • 01:20 — Sanam's origin story: the Iranian Revolution, Rwanda, and South Africa
  • 05:06 — The 1998 women in war zones conference that changed everything
  • 10:04 — Defining peacemaking and peacebuilding
  • 14:23 — The story behind UN Security Council Resolution 1325
  • 26:27 — The four pillars of Resolution 1325 explained
  • 30:07 — Has 1325 worked? An honest assessment 25 years later
  • 34:57 — Why is there still so much resistance to women at the peace table?
  • 42:32 — How ICAN finds, trains, and supports women peacebuilders worldwide
  • 51:17 — Women's unique role in understanding and countering radicalization
  • 1:00:57 — What cutting international aid and multilateralism means for this work
  • 1:09:48 — What sustains Sanam — and what ordinary people can do

You can find Sanam's podcast "If You Were In Charge" anywhere you get your podcasts.


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Topics covered

War & ConflictPeace & DiplomacyWomen & GenderEducation & Knowledge