Trump's cuts to international aid are having an impact that is spreading from Washington all the way to Geneva.
According to a report by the British 'Financial Times' on September 6, as the United States significantly reduces its funding support for the United Nations system, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations, a number of institutions have begun cutting staff, downsizing offices, and even relocating some functions away from the costly locations in Geneva. At the same time, countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, as well as Qatar and the UAE are trying to attract these institutions and positions to their own cities.
A rare "international organization investment promotion battle" has emerged.
Over the past century, Geneva has gradually become one of the most dense global governance clusters in the world. Today, it hosts approximately 450 international organizations and 185 diplomatic missions. United Nations agencies, NGOs, foundations, diplomats, and professional services organizations are all located close to each other. The “International Geneva” alone generates about $5 billion in economic activity annually.
But this model has one prerequisite: there is enough money.
Geneva not only has expensive rent and wages, but the United Nations system also maintains a large number of administrative, research, and technical positions here, which already represents a significant cost. When the major benefactor, the United States, withdrew, the costs that were once tolerable suddenly became unbearable.
Since 2025, more than 3,000 positions at the United Nations and international organizations in Geneva have been eliminated or relocated to cost-effective areas, which represents about one-fifth of the local UN positions. The number of personnel working for the International Organization for Migration in Geneva has decreased from approximately 1,000 to 600. The United Nations Children's Fund plans to move approximately 70% of its headquarters positions, located in New York and Geneva, to cost-effective locations.
Relocation has become a reality. Some functions of the World Health Organization have been transferred to Lyon, France. The United Nations Children's Fundation has adjusted its positions in Rome and other places, and the International Labour Organization has also transferred some positions to Turin.
What’s really interesting is that other cities don’t see this as a crisis for Geneva, but rather as an opportunity for themselves.
Because international organizations are not just a few office buildings. The establishment of an institution also brings diplomatic staff, experts, meetings, hotel needs, legal and consulting services. More importantly, it brings an asset that is difficult to quantify—the right to set the agenda.
Where international conferences are held, and where experts and diplomats gather for extended periods, that city becomes more accessible to global policy discussions. This is why Gulf countries like Qatar and the UAE have also joined the competition for international institutions. In the past, they enhanced their diplomatic presence by hosting summits and mediating regional conflicts, but now they are competing for the infrastructure that underpins global governance itself.
Switzerland has already felt the pressure.
The Swiss Federal Government has decided to invest 269 million Swiss francs by 2029 to support the "International Geneva," improving conference facilities, data storage, and operational conditions for international organizations. It is worth noting that the Swiss government itself acknowledges that, in addition to financial difficulties faced by international organizations, competition from other cities is becoming increasingly intense.
But the real problem in Geneva may not be whether these institutions will all move away—the possibility is still very low at present.
It is more likely to experience a "split."
The headquarters, diplomatic negotiations, and top decision-making bodies continue to remain in Geneva, while administrative, human resources, IT, research, and some technical departments are moved to lower-cost cities such as Rome, Lyon, Nairobi, Bangkok, and Amman. In fact, the United Nations has explicitly proposed moving a large number of positions from costly locations like New York and Geneva to lower-cost areas.
Thus, what Trump has cut is not just a single US fiscal expenditure.
The global governance system formed after World War II was long centered around a few Western cities such as New York and Geneva. Now, the withdrawal of funds from the United States has for the first time caused significant loosening in this map.
Trump wants to reduce the costs borne by the United States for the multilateral system, but the institutions that remain will not disappear automatically as a result.
They will go seeking new capital, new cities, and new political supporters.
And what is being fought over around the world is precisely that part of power that began to loosen starting from Geneva, after the United States withdrew its influence.
