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Whether you want an overview of all foraus activities or a summary of the most relevant and exciting news articles on foreign policy – our newsletter keeps you informed!
Blog – a platform for controversial articles on foreign policy issues
Eine Krise der Werte und Menschlichkeit – Situation für Geflüchtete an der europäischen Aussengrenze
Das Ende der stillen Diplomatie: Deutschland setzt mit Neuausrichtung der Türkei-Politik ein Zeichen
Ist die Schweiz EU-kompatibel? Auswirkungen einer Mitgliedschaft auf den Sonderfall Schweiz (Teil 2)
Ist die Schweiz EU-kompatibel? Auswirkungen einer Mitgliedschaft auf den Sonderfall Schweiz (Teil 1)
Upcoming Events
As the polar caps are melting due to climate change, the stakes in the Arctic are getting higher. With new trade routes becoming accessible and extraction for natural resources increasingly profitable, major powers and littoral states are stepping up their presence in the region. As a consequence, this development opens up opportunities and risks for the environment and security in the region.
In the newest foraus publication, the authors Anna Stünzi and Benno Zogg draw a vision for Switzerland’s role as an actor in the promotion of environmental standards and the reduction of tension in the region. To discuss the role of Switzerland and littoral states in the Arctic, I cordially invite you to the launch event of the publication «Switzerland and the Arctic - Closer than you think».
Small inputs and a panel discussion will debate Swiss links to the Arctic and the role Switzerland has played since assuming observership in the Arctic Council - and the role Switzerland and other observers can play in the future, particularly alongside Nordic states. The authors will be joined by the Ambassador Stefan Estermann, Swiss representative in the Arctic Council and the Ambassadors of Finland, Norway and Sweden.
To confirm your participation and gain exclusive access to the conference call to ask questions and interact with the participants, we kindly ask you to register. We will provide registered participants with the access details on Monday, 26th of October. Please note that this event will also be streamed live on Facebook.
Come and join us for an online presentation of Ivana Bartoletti's first book! AI has unparalleled transformative potential to reshape society, our economies and our working lives, but without legal scrutiny, international oversight and public debate, we are sleepwalking into a future written by algorithms which encode racist, sexist and classist biases into our daily lives – an issue that requires systemic political and cultural change to productively address. In this 1-hour online event which is part of the Think Tank Hub's Think Tank Talk series, Ivana Bartoletti will present her first book "An Artificial Revolution: On Politics, Power and AI". A privacy expert, Bartoletti is Technical Director - Privacy at Deloitte. She was awarded Woman of the Year (2019) in the Cyber Security Awards and launched in May 2018 the think tank Women Leading in AI network, a thriving international group of scientists, industry leaders and policy experts advocating for responsible AI. Please register here with your email address and you will receive a link to enter the Talk a few days before the event. Note that the event will be recorded. We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!
The Feminist Foreign Policy challenge, jointly organised this year by all five members of the Open Think Tank Network was by far the most collaborative endeavour in our history:
- 45 volunteers from the network ran 7 virtual Policy Kitchen workshops
- The workshops attracted 200 inspiring participants from all over the world
- 89 policy proposals were collaboratively generated in the process
- 20 top-notch international experts participated as advisory board members or speakers at the workshops
- The resulting publication was co-written by 5 teams across the network
This first-ever joint OpenTTN publication is now in its final review stage and will be launched for external stakeholders this December 2020.
We are meeting for an internal pre-release gathering to celebrate this collaborative effort, debrief on the Policy Kitchen experience and extract learnings for future distributed collaborative processes. You are cordially invited to get first-hand insights from this big experiment, ask questions, or simply celebrate the incredible work of all the volunteers who made it possible.
Join us for this exclusive behind-the-scenes event!
This is a virtual event. You'll receive a video link upon signing up.
A Plus for Peace. Unter diesem Slogan, der anlässlich des 75-jährigen Jubiläums der UN-Charta vom EDA präsentiert wurde, nimmt die Schweizer Kampagne um einen nichtständigen Sitz im UN Sicherheitsrat für die Periode 2023/2024 langsam Form an. Laut Bundesrat Cassis ist die Grundlage für die Kandidatur das Schweizer Engagement für eine gerechtere, friedlichere und lebenswertere Welt. Nachdem im März 2020 die letzten Widerstände im Nationalrat vom Bundesrat erfolgreich abgewendet werden konnten, scheint die Bahn für die Schweiz vermeintlich frei, sich einen der begehrten 10 Sitze zu angeln.
Doch, ist das der richtige Weg? Hat die Schweiz überhaupt Chancen? Was bringt ein Sitz der Schweiz? Und: was könnte die Schweiz schlussendlich bewirken?
Diese und weitere Fragen sollen anlässlich eines gemeinsam organisierten Events in Bern zusammen mit Vertretern aus Politik, Akademik und Aussenpolitik diskutiert werden.
!!! Bitte beachten Sie, dass aufgrund der Bestimmungen der Universität Bern in Bezug auf Covid-19 das Tragen einer Maske während der ganzen Veranstaltung obliagtorisch ist.
We are proud to launch the first joint publication by the Open Think Tank Network, detailing crowdsourced policy recommendations for a Feminist Foreign Policy.
The publication is the result of a transnational participatory Policy Kitchen process organised by young volunteers of the Open Think Tank Network. More than 200 youth and experts from four continents participated, and collaboratively generated 90 policy proposals detailing their vision of FFP.
We invite decision makers from governments, international organisations and women’s rights groups to discuss practical implications of selected recommendations in the following areas:
- Definitions and Key Aspects of Feminist Foreign Policy
- Gender-Based Violence & Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
- Peace and Security
- Gender and the Environment
- Gender Equality and the Economic Sphere
The interactive event will be held virtually. A video link will be provided to registered participants.
We are honoured to be joined by Delphine O (French Ambassador and Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum), Caren Grown (Director Gender, World Bank) and Sheena Anderson (Intersectionality expert, Centre For Feminist Foreign Policy). More distinguished speakers to be announced.
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Advisory board
- Dr. Joy Asongazoh Alemazung (UN Women Germany #HeforShe-Ambassador/Senior Analyst Global Governance Institute Brussels)
- Nina Bernarding (Director, Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy)
- Mathilde Ciulla (Programme Coordinator, Paris Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations)
- Ben Donaldson (Head of Campaigns, United Nations Association-UK)
- Dr Jamie Hagen, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Queen’s University Belfast, Co-Director of the Centre for Gender in Politics and Visiting Fellow at London School of Economics
- Preet Kaur Gill MP (UK Shadow Secretary of State for International Development)
- Patricia Schulz (Former Board Member and presently Senior Research Associate at UNRISD, former Director of the Federal Office for Gender Equality at Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), former member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW))
- Saskia Stachowitsch (Scientific Director, Austrian Institute of International Affairs and Professor of International Politics at the University of Vienna)
Experts in the process
- Marissa Cornway (Co-Founder and UK Director, Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy)
- Anoush der Boghossian (Gender Focal Point, World Trade Organisation)
- Guillaume Gouffier Cha (Member of French Parliament)
- Gabriella Irsten (Policy & Advocacy Officer, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom)
- Daliborka Janković (Human Rights Officer, Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- Dr. Ines Kappert (Head of Gunda Werner Institute)
- Caitlin Kraft-Buchman (CEO women @ the table)
- Gea Meijers (Wlde+ Network for Feminists Transforming Economic Development, Working Group Gender and Trade)
- Sarah Louis Montgomery (gender cc - women for climate justice)
- Delphine O (Ambassador and Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum)
- Cecilia Pellosniemi (Women, Peace and Security Specialist, UN Women)
- Christina Stummer (Gender Expert for the Austrian Development Agency)
- Tara Varma (Head European Council on Foreign Relations Paris & Policy Fellow)
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Open Think Tank Network
The Open Think Tank Network strives for the creation, development, and cooperation of open-source think tanks around the world. We use innovative crowd-sourcing methods and participatory structures to provide opportunities for participation in political debates outside of the traditional fora. Currently, the group consists of think tanks in Austria (Ponto), France (Argo), Germany (Polis180), Switzerland (foraus - Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy) and the UK (Agora).
Policy Kitchen
Policy Kitchen is a policy crowdsourcing methodology developed by foraus - Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy. It enables a diverse network of thinkers to find creative policy recipes for pressing foreign policy challenges. The methodology is built on a crowd innovation platform, physical workshops, and a support process to bring the best recipes to impact.
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