foraus (German: ''Forum Aussenpolitik'', French: ''Forum de politique étrangère'', Italian: ''Forum di politica estera'') is a

thinktank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental or ...

on Swiss foreign policy. It is headquartered in Bern and has offices in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

and

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

and works according to the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

principle, based on 9 regional groups across Switzerland. Most of its members are academic scholars, students and young professionals, who produce evidence-based discussion papers to be used as recommendations for decision makers and a broader public. The think tank organises events and is funded through membership fees as well as through the support of

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

s and private donors.

History

foraus was established in autumn 2009 by students from Zürich, Geneva and Bern. The idea of a grassroots think tank was developed by founders Nicola Forster and Pablo Padrutt. foraus is present with regional chapters in Swiss cities with a university. In 2017 Foraus began to work on the Open Think Tank Network of participatory think tanks together with sister organisations in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

(Polis 180), London (Agora), Paris (argo), and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(Ponto).

Activities

Foraus aims to provide a contribution to foreign policy in Switzerland through evidence-based contribution and to promote a constructive dialogue based on academic research. The head office is located in Bern, while the Geneva office coordinates the activities in the French-speaking region as well as the relations with the

international organisations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...

. There are foraus regional groups in many Swiss university towns (

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

, Bern,

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

, Geneva,

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, , ; german: Neuenburg) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, situated on the shoreline of Lake Neuchâtel. Since the fusion in 2021 of the municipalities of Neuchâtel, Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux, and Valangin, ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

and Zürich). The president of foraus is Elisa Cadelli and the co-president is Marie Juillard. The co-directors are Sereina Capatt and Marie Hürlimann. The three main activities of foraus are the publication of discussion papers on all aspects of Swiss foreign policy, the organisation of events, and the communication with media, the broad public and decision-makers.

Publications

foraus releases discussion papers and policy briefs on current issues on a regular basis. Focus points are the implications of national referendums for Switzerland's foreign policy, and the challenges related to immigration and the Switzerland-EU relations. The contents of the publications are developed in 11 thematic programmes (

development policy Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development * Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photogra ...

; Europe;

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and security;

global governance Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enforc ...

;

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum l ...

;

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, transport and energy;

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and human rights). In the framework of the prospective withdrawal form the European Union (Brexit), foraus studies on the post-Brexit institutional options gathered substantial attention in the United Kingdom.

Events

The think tank organizes workshops, panels and conferences with high-level politicians, diplomats and scholars on a regular basis. foraus events are regularly attended by Swiss decision makers and opinion leaders, including many past and current members of the

national government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...

, but also international guests such as

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th president of the European Commi ...

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary o ...

and

Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and th ...

Policy Kitchen

Foraus has developed its own digital policy innovation platform called Policy Kitchen. The tool is designed to foster collaboration across borders.

References

External links

*
Polis 180 – Grassroots-Thinktank für Außen- und Europapolitik
(in German)
argo , Think tank à Paris
(in French)
Agora – The open forum for foreign policy
{{Authority control 2009 establishments in Switzerland Foreign relations of Switzerland Politics of Switzerland Think tanks based in Switzerland