The New World Order Through a Postcolonial Feminist Lens: Gender, Power, and the 2026 U.S.–Iran War
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70670/sra.v4i2.2273Keywords:
Postcolonial Feminism; World Order; U.S.–Iran War; Gender and Security; Critical Discourse AnalysisAbstract
The international system is changing dramatically, with power transitions, a new military environment and growing contestation over the concept and nature of international order. In this context the war between the United States and Iran in 2026 is an important example to consider to understand how modern conflict transcends its military nature to become a space for the production and reproduction of political power, political legitimacy, and global hierarchies. International Relations approaches to conflict tend to focus on state interests, strategic competition and security, with the exception of those studies that are primarily gender or postcolonial in orientation, which may have neglected these dimensions of global politics. This study aims to fill this void by analysing the new order in a postcolonial feminist framework, specifically the intersections of gender, power and geopolitics in the war of the U.S. and Iran in 2026. The design of this study is qualitative, using interpretivist paradigm and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyze secondary textual data such as political statement, media narrative, policy documents and scholarly literature. The theoretical underpinnings are based on the theories of Spivak, Mohanty, Butler and Enloe, on issues of representation, subalternity, militarization, and differential recognition. The results show that the contemporary world order is reproduced not only through the material and institutional control but also through discursive processes that produce legitimacy, visibility and political authority. The analysis shows that conflict narratives normalize the use of military means to govern, reinforce gendered and geopolitical hierarchies, and silence women and voices from the Global South in mainstream discourses. The study concludes by establishing a new understanding of the current conflict and offers a new perspective for a more comprehensive global politics that includes postcolonial feminism.
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