... it was no coincidence that the places where women's lives were most undervalued largely lined up with the parts of the world most plagued by instability, conflict, extremism, and poverty. this was a point lost on many of the men working across washington's foreign policy establishment, but over the years i came to view it as one of the most compelling arguments for why standing up for women and girls was not just the right thing to do but also smart and strategic ... the correlation was undeniable, and a growing body of research showed that improving conditions for women helped resolve conflicts and stabilize societies. "women's issues" had long been relegated to the margins of u.s. foreign policy and international diplomacy, considered at best a nice thing to work on but hardly a necessity. i became convinced that, in fact, this was a cause that cut to the heart of our national security.