Switzerland and its relationship to European and global security institutions

• Main Author: Stocker, Peter Candidus
• Other Authors: Abenheim, Donald
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/9329; http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA379783

Switzerland was a member of the League of Nations, but has never joined the United Nations (UN). Switzerland nonetheless works closely with the UN, and the Swiss are active in the OSCE. The Swiss never tried to join NATO, but there is growing engagement in Partnership for Peace (PfP). Switzerland is an island surrounded by the European Union (EU), and still resists membership. The Swiss Government wants to join the UN and the EU, but the Swiss public, in 1986 and in 1992, said "no" to such entries, because it wants to remain neutral and to keep its political rights. The thesis examines the proposition that the new policy of "Security through Cooperation," as written in sever governmental reports, is compatible with Swiss neutrality. Therefore, the thesis examines Swiss history, the country's system, an its relationship to the UN, the OSCE, NATO, and the EU. In every step, where the Swiss Government followed the Swiss history the Good Offices, the Swiss public said "yes," in all other steps "no." The thesis shows the reasons for this development.