Twenty-three countries currently allow women to serve in front-line combat positions and others with a high likelihood of direct enemy contact. This book examines how these decisions did or did not evolve in 47 countries.

• Delineates the ways in which women are incorporated into national militaries in both the United States and countries around the world

• Offers in each entry the distinct national context in which countries have decided to employ women in warfare

• Reveals how different nations choose to include or exclude women from the military, providing key insight into each nation's values and priorities

• Examines how governments treat women serving in combat: battlefield experience can "earn" a woman citizenship or be cause for shunning her, depending on the state