About the project
Switzerland at the United Nations Security Council: Academic Insights
Switzerland holds a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the first time in 2023-2024. This provides a unique opportunity for researchers to analyze an elected member with the particular characteristics of being a neutral and small state as well as a relatively young member of the organization but with a long history of commitment to multilateralism and of hosting multilateral organizations.
The UN Security Council consists of five permanent members (P5) (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) and ten non-permanent members, elected for two-year terms (E10). Many studies exist on the role of elected members in the UN Security Council, yet they usually focus on their influence, leaving aside the manifold practices through which they participate in the UN Security Council’s work while performing their role as multilateral actors.
This research aims at broadening the analysis of the practices used by elected members in the UN Security Council. Based on the case of Switzerland, it applies ethnographic approaches to collect fine-grained data on its practices and provide a detailed account of its membership.
The project generates unique insights for both scholars and policymakers to understand the practices and the functioning of the UN Security Council on a daily basis. Based on the Swiss experience, it furthers our understanding of the main decision-making body for contemporary and future international peace and security.
Meet the team
Prof. Lucile Maertens
Prof. Lucile Maertens is associate professor in political science and international relations at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and member of the Global Governance Centre (GGC), Switzerland. Her work focuses on international organizations and multilateral practices, notably in the field of global environmental politics. Prof. Lucile Maertens manages this project with Dr. Sara Hellmüller and co-supervises Flavia Keller’s doctoral dissertation with Prof. Jean-Christophe Graz. She also studies Switzerland’s engagement on climate security during its term and the key role elected members play in ensuring the continuity and progress of the debates on this topic at the Council.
Prof. Dr. Sara Hellmüller
Prof. Dr. Sara Hellmüller is an assistant professor (SNSF PRIMA) at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Her work focuses on peace and conflict research, particularly the link between world politics and UN peace missions, norms in peacemaking, and knowledge production on peace. She manages this project with Dr. Lucile Maertens and is a member of the thesis committee for Flavia Keller’s doctoral dissertation. She also studies Switzerland’s engagement on sustaining peace and the protection of civilians during its term, notably as it pertains to UN peace operations.
Prof. Dr. Jean-Christophe Graz
Prof. Jean-Christophe Graz is Professor of international relations at the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, co-founder of the Centre of International History and Political Studies of Globalization (CRHIM), and Vice-Dean for research, ethics and doctoral schools at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. His work focuses on various issues of global governance. His most recent book is The Power of Standards: Hybrid authority and the Globalisation of Services (Cambridge University Press, 2019 – Open Access), for which he received the Joan Robinson Prize for the best monograph from the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE). In the context of this project, he co-supervises Flavia Keller’s doctoral dissertation with Dr. Lucile Maertens.
Flavia Keller
Flavia Keller is a doctoral student at the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Lausanne. Besides writing her dissertation in the framework of the project, Flavia is responsible for generating ethnographic data on the practices of Switzerland on the UN Security Council. She also studies Switzerland’s engagement in building sustainable peace (in particular with a gender lens) and in relation to enhancing the effectiveness of the Council.
This three-year research project is funded by the Fondation pour l’Université de Lausanne.
News
Event: Workshop on Switzerland’s UN Security Council Membership
On 21 November 2024, Prof. Sara Hellmüller co-organized a workshop hosted by the Center for Security Studies in collaboration with the Swiss Foreign Policy Association. Held at the Federal Palace in Bern, the event brought together experts, including Prof. Lucile Maertens, to analyze Switzerland’s tenure on the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The workshop examined Switzerland’s engagement, the challenges faced, and the legacy of its membership, offering insights for the future of Swiss foreign policy and multilateralism.
Key Highlights
Institutional Review: A panel led by Prof. Sara Hellmüller explored perspectives from Swiss federal administration and Parliament. The second panel focused on viewpoints from civil society actors.
Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl’s Address: Switzerland’s ambassador to the UN reflected on the mission’s work in New York and the broader implications of the UNSC membership.
Global Perspectives: A final panel, moderated by Prof. Lucile Maertens, featured insights from other UNSC members and international think tanks.
Bulletin 2024 on Swiss Security Policy
The world is in a transitional phase characterized by increased uncertainty, high volatility and low predictability. Switzerland’s security environment has deteriorated accordingly. With the Bulletin 2024 on Swiss Security Policy, the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich aims to contribute to the current debate on the future shape of Swiss security policy.
The fifth chapter by Sara Hellmüller, Flavia Keller, and Lucile Maertens offers a preliminary assessment of Switzerland’s first term on the UN Security Council, highlighting its significant contributions despite the body’s polarization. Switzerland played key roles in monitoring critical issues and introduced innovative working methods to overcome deadlocks. It effectively safeguarded its interests and values, including multilateralism and international law, while hosting International Geneva.
At the Helm of Global Governance: Insights from Switzerland's Presidency of the Security Council
Since 2023, Switzerland has been serving as an elected member of the UN Security Council for the first time in history. In October 2024, two months before concluding its mandate, Switzerland held the Council’s presidency for the second time. Prof. Lucile Maertens and Dr. Sara Hellmüller discussed Switzerland’s achievements during its one-month presidency and the challenges of this specific role. The discussion also addressed the broader implications of Switzerland’s membership and the critical roles of elected members in the current context, as investigated in the context of their research project.
2023 Annual Report of the Center for Security Studies
The recently published annual report of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich includes a short article on the project under the section “In Focus 2023”. The article summarises the activities of the Center concerning the non-permanent seat of Switzerland in the UN Security Council and includes a description of the project, as well as short reports from the workshops organised at ETH Zurich (December 2023) and the University of Geneva (November 2023), which were co-organised and/or attended by members of the project team.
Working Day on Switzerland and the Security Council - ETH Zürich
Dr. Sara Hellmüller and Flavia Keller took part in the Working Day on Switzerland in the UN Security Council at ETH Zurich, organized joitnly by the Centre for Security Studies and the Swiss Association for Foreign Policy (SGA-ASPE).
The day included a speech by the Ambassador in New York, Pascale Baeriswyl, and three round-table discussions with academics and practitioners who took stock of Switzerland’s first year on the Council. Flavia Keller participated as a panellist in the first part of the programme, presenting initial insights from the project after representatives of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport shared their assessments.
Bern Alumni Chapter 18th Annual Reception
Prof. Lucile Maertens presented the project at the 18th Annual Reception of the IHEID Bern Alumni Chapter. The theme of the event was “The Strategic Horizon Scan: Security, Migration and the UN in Times of Radical Uncertainty” and provided an opportunity to discuss the challenges of contemporary multilateralism and the role of Swiss actors. Marie-Laure Salles, the Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, outlined several significant institutional advancements for 2023 before facilitating a discussion featuring Prof. Keith Krause, who serves as the Director of the Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding, as well as a Professor in International Relations/Political Science, and Prof. Lucile Maertens. The event concluded with a networking cocktail.
PResentations
November 30, 2023
This event gathered former member of the Swiss Federal Council and UNIGE Professor Micheline Calmy-Rey, Deputy Permanent Representative Dre. Myriam Oehri, ETH Zürich Senior Researcher Dre. Sara Hellmüller and FORAUS co-director Darius Farman to discuss Switzerland’s insights, challenges and opportunities as an elected member of the UN Security Council.
Panel
- Micheline Calmy-Rey, Professeure invitée à l’Université de Genève & ancienne Conseillère fédérale
- Dre. Sara Hellmüller, Senior Researcher, ETH Zürich
- Myriam Oehri, Conseillère, représentante permanente adjointe de la Mission permanente du Liechtenstein auprès des Nations unies à New York
- Darius Farman, Co-Directeur, Forum de politique étrangère foraus
- Président·e·s de séance : Dr. Ueli Staeger, UNIGE, & Prof. Lucile Maertens, Geneva Graduate Institute
Switzerland and the United Nations
In June 2023, Flavia Keller presented the project at the Foreign Policy Day organized by the Swiss Association for Foreign Policy. The event was structured around two themes: the war against Ukraine and its consequences for Switzerland, as well as Switzerland’s mandate on the United Nations Security Council. In her presentation as part of the second thematic block, Flavia Keller introduced the structure and rationale of the project and argued that an ethnographic study of the daily practices of the Council’s members produces fine-grained and relevant knowledge on the functioning of the United Nations Security Council. The event attracted professionals in the field of foreign policy, civil society representatives, academics, as well as members of the interested public.
Media
What Switzerland achieved at the UN Security Council
An analysis by Lucile Maertens and Sara Hellmüller: What can a country like Switzerland achieve in the UN Security Council amid a highly polarized international context? Published on swissinfo.ch.
Switzerland at the UN: a first assessment (in Italian)
Sara Hellmüller featured on RSI to discuss Switzerland’s first term on the UN Security Council and provide a preliminary assessment of its achievements.
Switzerland and the United Nations
Interview of Sara Hellmüller on Switzerland’s mandate at the United Nations Security Council, quoted in the Republik’s weekly briefing.
A Plus for Peace: Switzerland in the UN Security Council
Project launch, latest news of the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Switzerland's election at the UN Security Council
Radio program “Forum” by Mehmet Gultas and Thibaut Schaller, Radio Télévision Suisse.
Switzerland's candidacy for a seat at the UN Security Council
Radio program “Forum” by Esther Coquoz, Radio Télévision Suisse.
Stay connected!
Review by Timon Forster, International Affairs, 2024, 100(3): 1303-1304.