A woman in Nepal, which has seen a decline in maternal mortality, holds her newborn granddaughter at a government maternity hospital, Katmandu, Nepal, Sept. 10, 2010 (AP photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe).

Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. There was a time when “affairs of state” were seen as having nothing to do with women. That time is now over. Today we have a strong evidentiary base that links the situation and security of women to state-level outcomes across a wide variety of issue areas—from health, wealth and governance to national security and stability. These linkages are no longer obscure. And because they have been made visible, policymakers have begun […]