🎧 Listen to Episode 10 of Multilateralism Unpacked here.
In this episode, UNU-CPR Director Dr. David Pasarelli is joined by Professor Inken von Borzyskowski about her award-winning book, Exit from International Organizations (co-authored with Professor Felicity Vabulas, Cambridge University Press, 2025). Winner of the Chadwick Alger Prize and shortlisted by the British International Studies Association, the book explores why States leave or are suspended from international organizations – a phenomenon often misunderstood as a recent surge driven by nationalism or populism.
Drawing on a century of empirical data across 534 organizations and 198 states, Professor von Borzyskowski shares insights on:
- How withdrawals and suspensions are far more common and historically regular than widely perceived.
- Why powerful States may use exit as a negotiation tool to shape institutional change.
- Trends in which States leave, return and the consequences they face for exiting.
- The role of threats, reputational costs, and the “contagion” effect of one State’s exit on others.
- How international organizations can manage withdrawal and suspension to maintain stability.
The discussion highlights that, despite headlines, exit is rarely terminal. About half of withdrawing States and 80 per cent of suspended States eventually return, demonstrating the resilience of international institutions.
For more information:
- Access Professor von Borzyskowski's research on state exit from international organizations.
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