Foreign Policy Interrupted

Foreign Policy Interrupted (FPI) is a United States-based initiative focused on the underrepresentation of women as commentators, analysts, and authors in foreign-policy media. Founded in 2014 by Elmira Bayrasli and Lauren Bohn, the organization was created in response to a persistent gender imbalance in the production and presentation of foreign-policy analysis. Its work combines research, media training, mentoring, professional networking, and editorial curation. FPI emerged in a broader period of discussion about the limited presence of women in opinion journalism and expert television coverage. Data cited by the organization and its partner organizations indicated that women accounted for a minority of op-ed authors at major American newspapers. A related analysis conducted with Media Matters for America examined the gender composition of foreign-policy guests on major news programs and found that women represented only about 22 percent of guests in 2014. FPI argued that the problem was not simply a shortage of qualified women, but also the ways in which media organizations identified, selected, and repeatedly relied on experts. Its principal program was a fellowship designed to prepare women working in foreign policy and international affairs for greater participation in journalism. The fellowship provided media training, opportunities to practice public communication, and mentoring connected with participating media institutions. Reported partner institutions included Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. Rather than functioning as a conventional news outlet, FPI operated as an intermediary between subject-matter experts and the media: it sought to expand the pool of credible, media-ready women available for interviews, commentary, and bylined analysis. FPI also published a weekly newsletter that highlighted foreign-policy articles written by women and featured interviews with female experts. This editorial activity served both a discovery function for journalists and a visibility function for contributors whose work might otherwise receive less attention. The organization’s approach therefore combined pipeline development with audience-facing amplification. By early 2017, FPI had publicized four fellowship classes. The fellows included scholars, policy professionals, lawyers, journalists, and practitioners working across regions and subject areas. Named participants included Mira Rapp-Hooper, Manal Omar, H. Nanjala Nyabola, Jen Weedon, Yolande Bouka, Cori Crider, Elina Ribakova, Irene S. Wu, Séverine Autesserre, Kamissa Camara, Kate Himes, Maria Snegovaya, Anne-Marie Brady, Asha Bastleberry, Alice Driver, Lauren Kosa, Fabiana Perera, Elizabeth Radin, and Erin Stuckey. FPI’s public significance lies in its effort to address structural representation in foreign-policy discourse rather than to promote a single policy position. Its activities supported a more diverse expert ecosystem by helping women translate specialized knowledge into formats used by newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, and digital media. The available reference material documents the organization’s launch, fellowship model, newsletter, partnerships, and early fellowship cohorts, but does not establish its current operating status, corporate structure, headquarters beyond the United States, or present-day program activity.

Foreign Policy Interrupted was launched in 2014 by Elmira Bayrasli and Lauren Bohn as an initiative addressing the limited representation of women in foreign-policy media. Its founding premise was that women with relevant expertise were underrepresented not only among newspaper opinion writers but also among television and other broadcast commentators. The organization cited figures showing that women wrote only a minority of op-eds at major American newspapers in 2011. It also worked with Media Matters for America on an analysis of foreign-policy guests on major news programs; the analysis reported that women made up approximately 22 percent of guests in 2014. FPI’s response was designed around both access and preparation. It created a fellowship for women foreign-policy experts that combined media training with mentoring and contact with partner media organizations. The goal was to help participants communicate specialized research and policy knowledge in forms useful to journalists and editors, while also making it easier for media outlets to identify a broader range of qualified sources. Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy were identified among the participating or partner institutions in descriptions of the program. The organization complemented the fellowship with a weekly newsletter. The newsletter promoted foreign-policy articles authored by women and included interviews with female experts. This gave FPI an editorial role in addition to its training function: it helped circulate work that might be overlooked by conventional expert-selection networks and created a regular channel through which journalists and readers could discover contributors. FPI’s early fellowship cohorts included professionals working on subjects ranging from international security and political economy to human rights, migration, regional politics, and conflict. The first four reported classes included Mira Rapp-Hooper, Manal Omar, H. Nanjala Nyabola, Jen Weedon, Yolande Bouka, Cori Crider, Elina Ribakova, Irene S. Wu, Séverine Autesserre, Kamissa Camara, Kate Himes, Maria Snegovaya, Anne-Marie Brady, Asha Bastleberry, Alice Driver, Lauren Kosa, Fabiana Perera, Elizabeth Radin, and Erin Stuckey. Public discussion of FPI appeared in foreign-policy and general-interest media during its early years. Coverage framed the organization as part of a wider effort to correct gender disparities in expert commentary and opinion journalism. FPI did not present itself as a conventional policy advocacy organization with a single ideological platform; its central intervention was institutional and representational, seeking to change who receives media exposure and who is treated as an authoritative voice. The available source material documents the organization through its founding period and the fourth fellowship class reported by early 2017. It does not provide reliable current information about whether FPI remains active, its current leadership, legal structure, funding, headquarters, or website. Those fields therefore remain unresolved in this dossier.

• 2017

  Fourth fellowship class reported

  [1]Foreign Policy Interrupteden.wikipedia.org

  Publicly available material reported that FPI had reached four fellowship classes by early 2017.

• 2014

  Organization launched

  [1]Foreign Policy Interrupteden.wikipedia.org

  Elmira Bayrasli and Lauren Bohn launched Foreign Policy Interrupted to improve the representation of women in foreign-policy journalism and commentary.

• 2014

  Foreign-policy guest representation analysis

  [1]Foreign Policy Interrupteden.wikipedia.org

  FPI collaborated with Media Matters for America on research examining the gender balance of foreign-policy guests on major news programs.

• 2014

  Fellowship program introduced

  [2]Meet Foreign Policy Interruptedblogs.cfr.org

  The organization developed a fellowship combining media training and mentoring for women foreign-policy experts.

A gender-equity and professional-development initiative that expands the visibility of women experts in foreign-policy journalism through training, mentoring, editorial curation, and media connections.

• Professional-development fellowship · 2014

  FPI Fellowship

  FPI’s central program was a fellowship for women working as foreign-policy experts, researchers, practitioners, or commentators. It provided media training intended to help participants explain specialized subjects to broad audiences and included meaningful mentoring connected with partner media institutions. The program was designed to increase both the confidence and discoverability of participants in journalism, broadcast, and digital-media settings.

• Editorial publication

  FPI Weekly Newsletter

  The weekly newsletter highlighted foreign-policy articles written by women and included interviews with women foreign-policy experts. It functioned as a curated discovery channel for readers and journalists, drawing attention to analysis and expertise that could be missed by established media sourcing patterns.

• 2014

  Use training and mentoring to broaden the foreign-policy expert pipelineStrategy

  Background

  FPI identified a persistent gap between the number of women with foreign-policy expertise and the number receiving media opportunities.

  Action taken

  It created a fellowship combining media training, mentoring, and relationships with participating media institutions rather than relying only on editorial advocacy.

  Aftermath

  The program produced multiple reported fellowship classes and became the organization’s principal public-facing intervention.

  Source

• 2014

  Pair professional development with editorial amplificationStrategy

  Background

  FPI sought to address both the preparation of women experts for media appearances and the visibility of their published work.

  Action taken

  Alongside the fellowship, it published a newsletter featuring women’s foreign-policy writing and interviews with female experts.

  Aftermath

  The combined model positioned FPI as both a training initiative and a curator of foreign-policy expertise.

  Source

1. 1Foreign Policy Interrupteden.wikipedia.org
2. 2Meet Foreign Policy Interruptedblogs.cfr.org
3. 3Foreign Policy Interrupted and the gender gap in foreign-policy mediavox.com
4. 4Debating U.S. foreign policy: Where are the women?ipsnews.net