ABSTRACT
Almost every state in the world is controlled by men, and almost all states of which we have historical records have been controlled by men. Yet in a few cases women have gained high political power, and of course most men never exercise state power. In this paper I want to explore how we should understand the relationship of masculinity to the state, in a way consistent with a sophisticated contemporary understanding of gender. Wishing to move toward a dynamic, not just a static, analysis, and to make the argument relevant to practice, I will conclude with some remarks on the arms trade as a case in point.
