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Commentary

“Epstein countries” and “Mullah state”

Why the world labels us “Epstein countries”

by Robert Seidel*

(8 May 2026) Should we regard it as pure propaganda when the “West of values” is denounced as “Epstein countries” in other parts of the world? – Of course it is propaganda. – Just as it is propaganda to refer to Iran as a “Mullah State”. Whilst a form of theocracy does indeed prevail in Iran, the informed reader finds it difficult to make sense of the term “Epstein countries”. Why “Epstein countries”? What do we have to do with Epstein? In the countries of the Middle East and the South, they evidently see things differently.

What I saw in Cuba was resilience

by Gerargo Delgado*

(8 May 2026) (CH-S) For 66 years, the island nation of Cuba, located in the Caribbean to the south-east of Mexico, with its 11 million inhabitants, has been subject to severe US sanctions. All sectors of the Cuban economy are affected.

Furthermore, since February 2026, the US under President Donald Trump has been threatening to impose high tariffs on all countries that supply Cuba with crude oil or derivatives – a further tightening of sanctions aimed at regime change was introduced on 2 May this year.

For 33 years, the overwhelming majority of UN member states have voted to end the US embargo against Cuba. However, the US has ignored these resolutions. – The author has visited the island nation.

Sanctions kill silently – and miss their mark

On the credibility of neutrality

by Prof. em. Dr. Wolf Linder*

(8 May 2026) Economic sanctions are among the most controversial aspects of the Neutrality Initiative. The false claim continues to circulate that the initiative prohibits all sanctions and deprives Swiss foreign policy of an important instrument.
Federal referendum on 14 June 2026

Switzerland is bursting at the seams

The “Sustainability Initiative” aims to limit migration, but virtually all parties and associations are opposed to it

by Michael Straumann*

(1 May 2026) Switzerland is bursting at the seams. Rents are soaring to record levels, trains are overcrowded, and traffic jams are getting longer. In many places, the country is reaching its capacity limits. For instance, rents in Zurich – both in the city and across the canton – have recently reached an all-time high.1 Rents have risen by 21 per cent in the canton over the last 25 years, and by as much as 44 per cent in the city.

Xi Jinping proposes four-point plan for Middle East peace and diplomacy

by “Friends of Socialist China”*

(1 May 2026) (CH-S) The Western media provide little information about the People’s Republic of China’s stance on the war in the Middle East, even though the country is playing a significant behind-the-scenes role in the ceasefire negotiations. Below, we reproduce an article by “Friends of Socialist China” which summarises China’s position.
The Transformation of the United States (I)

The Schism between the Pentagon and the Vatican

by Thierry Meyssan,* France

(1 May 2026) Seen from the outside, we do not perceive the metamorphosis of the United States: in four months, it has changed its political ideology (it is no longer ‘Jacksonian’), its military doctrine (it no longer applies the ‘Rumsfeld-Cebrowski’ strategy), and its faith (it no longer believes in religious pluralism). We are publishing a study on this transformation, which compels us to completely revise our perception of this country.