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Switzerland’s neutrality – a prerequisite for supply security

by Hans Bieri

(8 November 2023) (Ed.) Hans Bieri, Managing Director of the “Swiss Association Industry + Agriculture SVIL”, expertly describes the importance of neutrality for our country’s security of supply. As an export nation without its own raw materials, Switzerland’s very existence depends on open markets. Its neutral position offers advantages to its trading partners. If the country gives up its neutrality, it risks becoming a pawn in the hands of hegemonic powers and losing its independence.
Middle East

October 2023 – News from the war

by Karin Leukefeld,* Syria/Germany

(1 November 2023) Little is known these days about what is happening to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank. The news is dominated by Israeli or US sources; voices from Gaza or the West Bank hardly appear.
Switzerland

The malaise of school reforms

Interventions at the heart of school

by Christine Staehelin,* Basel

(1 November 2023) In her article Christine Staehelin, a primary school teacher with a degree in education, deals with the insufficient justifiability of many reforms and analyses the serious consequences with trenchant precision.

Genocide against the Palestinians – Craig Mokhiber steps down

by Alfred de Zayas, Geneva

(1 November 2023) Craig Mokhiber has the courage that every international civil servant should have. He has stepped down from his post as Chief of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in protest against the failure of the United Nations to stop the genocide being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.
Middle East

No takers for a West Asian war but war seems inevitable

by M.K. Bhadrakumar,* India

(31 October 2023) There is no question that smart power enhances foreign policy. Since the notion of “smart power” entered international diplomacy some two decades ago, a major regional power, Iran, is applying it to an actual conflict situation.

Progress and Retrogression in Human Rights

by Alfred de Zayas,* Geneva

(25 October 2023) Progress and retrogression characterize the reality of international law, international relations, and the concrete enjoyment of human rights by women and men throughout the planet. We hail the tides of opportunity, the times of liberation and expansion, but we should not be blind to recurrent abuses, crimes, and moments of disgrace.