Does the status of women elsewhere in the world matter to U.S. national security? On Dec. 19, President Trump released his answer in the latest National Security Strategy (NSS), one of his first opportunities to outline what an “America First” foreign policy will look like.

While there are several notable changes from those released by previous administrations, one of the most striking is the sharp turn away from recent policies — backed by a significant amount of research — that treat the well-being of women around the globe as critical to peace and prosperity.

A short history of the U.S. government’s position on women, peace and security

President Ronald Reagan released the first NSS in 1987, mentioning women only in passing as members of the U.S. military. But in 1994, President Bill Clinton’s NSS began referring to women’s status as critical to global stability, for the first time. The Clinton administration took the position that advancing American interests and ideals depends on integrating women’s and girls’ concerns into the foreign policy agenda. This point of view was both a product and a driver of the times. Hillary Clinton’s proclamation at the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women that “women’s rights are human rights” helped bring gender into the mainstream security and foreign policy discussion — but it wasn’t the first time that the administration had advanced that notion.

Bill Clinton’s first NSS emphasized family planning, reproductive health care, maternal and child health, education and improvements in the status of women, arguing that giving women control over their bodies and future would result in more stable countries and contribute to global security. And it declared that multilateral conferences and institutions were critical in reaching these goals.

President George W. Bush dropped the focus on women’s issues as part of national security. In 2006, Bush’s NSS stated simply, “No nation can be free if half its population is oppressed and denied fundamental rights. We affirm the inherent dignity and worth of women, and support vigorously their full participation in all aspects of society.” While the president kept the Office of Women’s Issues and then-first lady Laura Bush launched a women’s rights campaign in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion, the effort to incorporate women into the national security architecture stalled.