'Walking the Extra Mile': How Governance Networks Attract International Organizations to Geneva, the Hague, Vienna, and Copenhagen (1995-2015)

It is August 26, 2015. A crucial day during the Conference of State Parties in Canc, Mexico. 67 of the 69 member states of the Arms Trade Treaty vote for a location of the new Secretariat. Three candidate host states and their cities are bidding: Austria (Vienna), Switzerland (Geneva), and Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain). In the first round, Port of Spain wins with 32 votes, Geneva gets 21, and Vienna drops out with 14 votes. The second round, Geneva gets 35, scooping up all of Vienna's votes, and wins. What did Switzerland and Geneva do right? What did the others do wrong - if anything?

This book is about how governance networks in host cities attract International Organizations (IOs), and about how and why they fail or succeed. Scholars in the field of governance and public policy often agree that better policy alignment and cooperation in networks increase the chances of success. Yet, the findings of this study contradict this. Considering the interests of IOs proves to be more important than having matters 'in order' internally.