Catz in Switzerland: Strengthening Global Connections

St Catherine’s College Deputy Director of Development Rachel Shepherd tells us about her recent visit to Switzerland with Professor Inken von Borzyskowski, where they met alumni and friends of the College.

I had the fortune of travelling to Switzerland with Professor von Borzyskowski, at the invitation of the Swiss Friends of Oxford (SFOU). Across visits to Zurich and Geneva, we engaged with more than 40 alumni and friends of the College through a series of dinners, talks and meetings, spreading the word about Catz and the changes we are currently undergoing.

In both cities, Professor von Borzyskowski spoke on her research into why states exit international organisations (IOs), based on her recently published book covering more than a century of data from 1913 to 2022. Her research shows that states often use exit strategically to negotiate change, either internationally or domestically. At the international level, the threat, announcement, or act of withdrawal can be used to influence institutional policies, politics, and governance, rather than simply reflecting nationalist or populist demand – indeed, Brexit remains an outlier, with no comparable case among 400 withdrawals where a population voted directly to leave. Exit can also take the form of forced suspension or removal, as in the case of Russia being suspended/forcibly removed from a number of organisations in response to their invasion on Ukraine in 2022. In the first two cases, states may threaten to leave, but often use this threat as a negotiating tool to get a better deal for themselves.

These talks were incredibly timely, given the number of IOs that the United States has announced it would leave in the past year, particularly affecting those IOs based in Geneva including around 40% of staff at the WHO.

Both talks formed the basis of an open discussion on the subject, informed by the personal experiences of the guests, and expertly led by our SFOU hosts. In Zurich the audience was primarily financiers, and in Geneva the audience included high-level political representatives: the Ambassadors of Japan and Honduras to the United Nations; the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, and with other guests from CERN, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), industry, and in human rights law. We were also joined in Geneva by Catz Emeritus Fellow JC Smith.

Both evenings were incredibly intellectually stimulating and enjoyed by all, and gave us a fantastic opportunity to introduce local Catz alumni to the SFOU group and to help them see the benefits being in such an organisation can bring in terms of local networking, and continued learning.

Alongside the SFOU events, Professor von Borzyskowski gave talks at the University of Zurich, ETH and the Geneva Graduate Institute, and met with the Mission of Switzerland to the UN. I had meetings with other Catz alumni – some of whom were then in attendance at the events and others who were unable to make it.

In all, the trip was a fantastic opportunity to further engage with our Catz community and fill them in on all that has been happening at Catz in recent years, as well as introducing them to the advantages of being a Swiss Friends of Oxford member, and helping to promote St Catherine’s College within the Swiss community. We are hopeful of adding Switzerland to the list of places that the College regularly visits to keep in touch with our alumni and friends, at a time when it is ever important for us to widen our networks and garner support for the College.

We are very grateful to the SFOU for hosting our visit, and to Professor Inken von Borzyskowski for her time and expertise on such a topical subject.

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Find out more about our alumni activities here.

Find out more about Professor von Borzyskowski here.