“People are looking at Switzerland!”

by Ralph Bosshard,* Switzerland

(22 March 2024) (Ed.) The divided world needs mediators – but only those who are neutral can be mediators. Switzerland should strengthen its neutrality not only to avoid being drawn into a war itself, but also to be able to play an active mediating role in serious conflicts between other countries! The world needs mediators!

Having almost sunk into oblivion due to the lack of armed conflicts on the European continent, neutrality is once again an issue that we have to be seriously concerned about. In the years after 2014, we have been able to observe how increasingly all conceivable areas of state action and social life has been used for the purpose of conflict management.

We should stop listening to Russian composers and stop reading Russian literature. This went so far that transatlantic soup casper swatted about the fact that borshsh was a Ukrainian dish, and Crimean sparkling wine was a sparkling Ukrainian wine, which should no longer be consumed. We need therefore to draw a line of interference in our daily life.

We are currently confronted with a group of states that divides the world into black and white, good and evil, according to the motto “Whoever is not with me is against me”. This group of states cam about to realize in recent months that they can no longer create or enforce majorities in the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. They usurp the powers of the UN Security Council, seek to replace the UN as a new system of collective security and is thus shaking the foundations of the global post-war order. Over the past 25 years, these states have accumulated enough dirt on their own, which they are now throwing at others. Today it's Russia's turn, tomorrow it's someone else's turn.

It is astonishing that the Swiss Federal Council is cooperating so willingly with such group of states after it had previously made great efforts to get Switzerland on the UN Security Council. This inconsistent foreign policy must end. Today it's about much more than just Switzerland; it's about the principle of neutrality itself and the sovereign right of states to refrain from participating in a military conflict and also in economic wars. It is therefore about the rights of all approximately 150 states in the world that do not belong to one of the Western alliances and those 100 states that were not invited to Joe Biden's democracy conference.

Over the 25 years following the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, it has become clear that the conflicts that are really difficult to resolve are those in which it is not black against white, but grey against grey. It is precisely the contradictions that are difficult to resolve legally that are most likely to lead to the use of force. And it is the absolutely self-confident, the self-righteous, who are the first to begin to develop a new theory of «just war». Knowing this, we must oppose any attempt to ideologize the concept of neutrality and peace. Neutrality without lecturing others is the direction we should strive for.

Neutrality is the attitude of those who are aware of the grey areas and do not allow themselves to be positioned as the subject of geopolitical concepts against other peoples. After all, Switzerland's neutrality has prevented it from participating in NATO wars that violated international law several times.

Overall, the enforcement of Article 51 of the UN Charter (the right to self-defence, ed.), as difficult as it may be in individual cases, would be preferable to universal pacifism. In the current situation, the Swiss government should clearly communicate the rules it intends to apply instead of exploiting its room for manoeuvre under international law, so that it avoids making the same mistake as it did between1939 to 1945, and got harshly criticized for it afterwards. That is why the concept of armed neutrality should be replaced today by that of defensive neutrality. We are an adult nation, do not want to lecture anyone ideologically and do not need to be lectured to by others.

Switzerland was right to prevent itself from being used as a platform for circumventing EU sanctions, as this would have reinforced its negative image as a dealmaker. Neutrality is not indecent, but pursuing geopolitics behind a shield of a dozen or so NATO allies is.

However, if you are in a secure geopolitical position like Switzerland, you should take advantage of it to help solve the problems of others. Silence and standing on the sidelines would indeed be indecent. Neutrality must therefore always be combined with an active foreign policy.

The failure of the neutrality initiative in the future people's vote would send a fatal signal, both internally, as the Swiss government would then believe it can proceed as it pleases, and externally. People are looking at Switzerland.

* Ralph Bosshard, Lieutenant Colonel iG, was a career officer in the Swiss Army, including instructor at the General Staff School and Chief of Operations Planning at the Armed Forces Joint Staff. After training at the General Staff Academy of the Russian Army in Moscow, he served as Special Military Advisor to the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, as Senior Planning Officer in the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and as Operations Officer in the OSCE High-Level Planning Group. In his civilian profession, Ralph Bosshard is a historian (Master’s degree, University of Zurich).

Source: https://globalbridge.ch/man-schaut-auf-die-schweiz/, 9 March 2024

Further texts on Switzerland's neutrality:

Call from Left and Green Supporters. Yes to the Neutrality Initiative!:
https://www.schweizer-standpunkt.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/call-from-left-and-green-supporters-yes-to-the-neutrality-initiative.html

Neutral Mediation Services or Entering the War?:
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/neutral-mediation-services-or-entering-the-war.html

The Swiss Federal Council is Right, except …
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/the-swiss-federal-council-is-right-except.html

Yes to Swiss Neutrality:
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/yes-to-swiss-neutrality.html

The New Wars and Neutrality:
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/the-new-wars-and-neutrality.html

Scandalous Action against Swiss Neutrality:
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/scandalous-action-against-swiss-neutrality.html

A Plea for a Neutrality of the Prudent (1/2):
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/a-plea-for-a-neutrality-of-the-prudent.html

A Plea for a Neutrality of the Prudent (2/2):
https://swiss-standpoint.ch/news-detailansicht-en-schweiz/a-plea-for-a-neutrality-of-the-prudent-2-2.html