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99% Invisible
99% Invisible

Citizen of the World

April 28, 2026 • 40m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

This episode explores the fascinating story of Gary Davis, an American Broadway actor turned WWII bomber pilot who renounced his U.S. citizenship in 1948 to become the world's first self-declared 'world citizen.' Davis founded the World Government of World Citizens and began issuing alternative passports and identity documents to challenge the nation-state system. Through an interview conducted in 2009 when Davis was 88, journalist Scott Gurian chronicles Davis's decades-long activism, his numerous arrests, and the ongoing work of his organization helping stateless people and refugees around the world.

Gary Davis Renounces His U.S. Citizenship

In May 1948, 26-year-old Gary Davis walked into the U.S. Embassy in Paris and formally renounced his American citizenship, becoming stateless. This dramatic act was the culmination of his experiences as a WWII B-17 bomber pilot who lost his brother to the war. Davis concluded that the only way to prevent future wars was for people to remove themselves from the nation-state system that creates conflict. His renunciation made international headlines and sparked widespread media attention, with journalists fascinated by someone voluntarily giving up American citizenship during a time when everyone wanted to get into the United States.

  • Gary Davis renounced his U.S. citizenship at the U.S. Embassy in Paris on May 25, 1948
  • His decision was influenced by his experience as a WWII B-17 bomber pilot and losing his brother to a German torpedo
  • Embassy officials were appalled, and Davis became a stateless person who had to surrender his passport
  • The story made international headlines through AP, Reuters, and other major news services
  • Davis released a statement calling the world 'a naked anarchy' without international government
" America is for Americans and Americans only! "
" I said there is something intrinsically wrong with society, and I'm not going to play this game anymore. "
" In the absence of an international government, our world politically is now a naked anarchy. Two global wars have shown that as long as two or more powerful sovereign nation states regard their own national laws supreme and sufficient to handle affairs between nations, there can be no order on a planetary level. "

Camping at the United Nations and Gaining Global Attention

After renouncing his citizenship, French authorities gave Davis a deadline to leave, but without a passport he had nowhere to go. In a stroke of luck, the UN General Assembly took over part of Paris as international territory on the day he was supposed to leave France. Davis camped on the UN steps and in November 1948, he interrupted a General Assembly meeting to advocate for world citizenship. His dramatic speech was captured on film, and 20,000 people showed up to hear him speak in Paris shortly after. Intellectual luminaries including Albert Camus and Albert Einstein publicly supported his cause.

  • Davis moved to UN territory in Paris on September 11, 1948, the only place he could go without facing arrest
  • He interrupted a UN General Assembly meeting in November 1948, with Eleanor Roosevelt and other delegates present
  • Davis declared: 'The nations you represent divide us, separate us, and lead us to the abyss of World War III'
  • 20,000 people attended his speech in a Paris auditorium less than two weeks after interrupting the UN
  • He established a registry of world citizens and began issuing world citizen cards
" I interrupt, I interrupt...I said, I interrupted the name of the people not represented here. The nations you represent divide us, separate us, and lead us to the abyss of World War III. What we need is one government for one world. And if you don't do it, step aside. We're going to do it ourselves. "
" I should like to consider myself a citizen of the world. "

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