Biography
Jack's commitment to the arts stems from his fondly remembered role as a tree nymph in an amateur production of Snow White. Spurred on by the audience reaction to this performance, he sent a begging letter to Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. touting himself for the role of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, due to the inefficiency of Royal Mail, their letter of enthusiastic acceptance remains lost in the post
After unsuccessfully auditioning for several plays, while reading international relations at the University of York, Jack turned his creative energy to fronting the short-lived band 'Saucy Jack and the Blue Moons'. Sadly, due to a combination of stage fright and substance abuse, the five-piece never lived up to their artistic or commercial promise.
'Der Schönwetter Engländer' Der Bund 17 April 2015.
Forced to flee the UK under a cloud to continue his studies in Switzerland, Jack took the opportunity to reinvent himself as a writer of philosophical comedies. Despite his first play Life for Life being panned as 'offensive, inappropriate and not even funny', he gained a loyal following among those with dubious taste. His second play The Shrink’s Cabinet was selected for the Fribourg International Theatre Festival - the only English play at the French-language festival.
Keen to avoid the indignity of a job interview, Jack entered the Swiss Folientango Tournament (improvised PowerPoint presentation) where he was twice crowned champion, although unfortunately this came with no financial benefit or elevation to the ranks of minor celebrity.
Nevertheless, his growing notoriety saw him established as the go-to “talking head with an English tongue” in Switzerland, a reputation cemented by an interview on how to deal with bad weather: 'Regenwetter - ice liebe es!' (rainy weather - I love it). Following Brexit and the subsequent fallout soured images of Englishmen abroad, he resorted to giving forlorn interviews on the state of the negotiations instead (Der Bund & Berner Zeitung).
Jack's first novel Pond Life will be published in autumn 2022 by RedDoor Press.
Academic Profile
Moderating an EU referendum debate featured in Huffington Post.
Jack is currently President of the Institute for Global Negotiation based in Zurich, Switzerland as well as a Consultant for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In addition he is an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the American University of Kurdistan where he was previously Acting Dean of the College of International Studies.
Jack received his Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Zurich, with a thesis examining the justifications for the territorial rights of political communities. During his doctoral studies, he spent time as a Visiting Student Research Collaborator at Princeton University.
During the EU referendum campaign Jack was inspired to take philosophy out of the 'ivory tower' and back to its natural home, the British pub. He organised a series of debates held in handpicked ale houses across the home counties. The events proved to lack the reasoned argument and careful reflection he'd envisioned. Although landlords were pleased to generate a crowd, with one host commenting 'we should do this every week.'
Jack was previously a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern as well as a Summer Academy and MILE Fellow at the World Trade Institute. He holds a Bachelor’s in Politics with International Relations from the University of York and a Masters in Political, Legal and Economic Philosophy from the University of Bern respectively. Jack’s research interests include questions of territorial rights, specifically the legitimacy of secession, as well as issues relating to negotiation, conflict resolution, and political leadership.