In the undeniable patriarchy of the modern world it could be argued that with an increase in female participation in positions of power and influence there would inherently be an increase in world peace. This statement is multifaceted and filled with a huge lack of empirical data as only 20% of the world's political leaders are women. Although with limited data, it can be seen that gender has no real influence on how a leader will lead a state, and therefore has no effect on whether a leader will be more peaceful. This essay aims to argue this idea; the prevalence of the inevitability of states and war, the fact that there is already a continued exponential decrease in gender-unrelated war and violence around the world, and the idea that sex does not genetically instill personality traits in us. War is an inevitability of human nature and international peace have nothing to do with the gender of the world's leaders. Women in power will continue to act in the interests of the state and will not be limited to the preconception that women have an “affinity for peace.” Realist theory suggests that the international system is anarchic and that an attempt to achieve or even promote world peace would be a futile act. In an international system without global hegemony, states are free to act in the best interests of the state, guided by the demand for power and state survival. From Cleopatra and her funding of Roman military campaigns to Helen Clark providing troops for the war in Afghanistan, globally, female leaders have played a role in the world's disharmony. In April 1982, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain went to war with Argentina to defend British sovereignty. After 10 weeks and nearly 100...... middle of paper......l Leadership Inspire,” “Stanford Presidential Lectures: Mary Robinson.” Stanford Presidential Lectures in the Humanities and Arts, accessed May 13, 2012, http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/robinson/Coy, Peter, Elizabeth Dwoskin. “Shortchanged: Why Women Get Paid Less Than Men.” Bloomberg Business Week (2012): Accessed May 15, 2014. Eliot Smith, Jeffry Simpson, “When Sex Goes Wrong.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 106, No. 5 2012Pinker Steven, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (London: Penguin Group, 2011), 23Charlotte Hooper, Manly States: Masculinities Relations, and, International Gender Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999) World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014) Saunders Malcolm, Are women more peaceful than men? (Armidale: Routledge, 2002)