Militarization and the Role of Military Attaché Wives in Supporting Thai Defense Diplomacy
Keywords:
Defence Diplomacy, Militarization, feminization, housewifization, military attaché wivesAbstract
This qualitative research examines and analyzes the role of military attaché wives in supporting Thailand's preventive diplomacy policy. The study employed in-depth interviews with 15 military attaché wives and document analysis. The research objectives were to: (1) explore the roles and functions of military attaché wives in both formal and informal diplomatic activities; (2) analyze how wives participate in social networking and support military operations; and (3) examine the impacts of these roles on their personal and family lives.
The research findings reveal significant dynamics of militarization processes in the context of Thailand's preventive diplomacy, which have dissolved the boundaries between operational spaces (public sphere) and family or personal life (private sphere) through two interconnected mechanisms: feminization and housewifization. It is femininity itself, understood as a set of socially constructed attributes including warmth, hospitality, and cultural grace, that is militarized and strategically channeled to serve the objectives of preventive diplomacy. The wives, in this sense, function as the vessels through which this militarized femininity is performed and deployed in social and diplomatic spaces. Simultaneously, in the dimension of housewifization, wives' caregiving roles are extended from their families to the military family which encompass diverse groups of military personnel, including military attaché husbands, government officials visiting from abroad, and exchange military cadets. Additionally, they manage their homes as informal diplomatic spaces.
The convergence of these two processes creates what may be termed "feminine-domestic diplomacy," which securitizes skills and labor categorized as "women's work" and "housework" by incorporating them into the apparatus of state security and preventive diplomacy. However, the expansion of these roles results in loss of personal freedom, increased physical and emotional labor burdens, and lack of formal recognition, despite wives' significant contributions to the success of preventive diplomacy policy.
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