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The Idiosyncrasies of Contemporary Swiss Security Policy and Practice: A Strategic Culture-Based Explanation

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 33; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13523260.2012.693799

1743-8764

Wilhelm Mirow,

European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies

Abstract The peculiarities of Swiss security policy since the end of the Cold War are best explained not through Switzerland's structural position but through its unique strategic culture. Compared to other European neutrals, there are three particular idiosyncratic expressions of Switzerland's neutrality: strict adherence to institutional non-alignment in Swiss foreign and security policy; the Swiss army's militia principle; and the Swiss system of civil defence. Given their relative persistence despite radical changes in the strategic environment, these idiosyncrasies deserve more research attention and more theoretical scrutiny. This article argues that an examination of Swiss strategic culture, based on historical and identity narratives as well as public opinion, best explains the puzzle of distinctiveness. The article highlights the importance of the vernacular in conceptualizations of strategic culture, and explores the explanatory utility of strategic culture compared to explanations based on realist or institutional factors derived from rationalist theories. Strategic culture reveals current constraints imposed upon policymakers as well as ideological resources available for new directions in security policy. This analysis shows there is little room within Swiss strategic culture for a transformation of security policy, but there are opportunities for a discursive transformation of Swiss identity and strategic culture that allow for a better use of strategic and military resources. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This article is based on an earlier version presented at the 4th Annual Critical Voices in Swiss IR Conference ‘Beyond Security Politics?’ held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in May 2011. I would like to thank the conference participants, in particular Myriam Dunn Cavelty, Anna Leander, and David Lanz, for their valuable feedback. I also thank Stephen Aris Mark-Daniel Jäger, Daniel Möckli, Bianca Sarbu, Aglaya Snetkov, Manuel Suter, Alrik Thiem, Daniel Trachsler, Andreas Wenger, Marco Wyss, and the anonymous reviewers and editors of CSP for helpful comments and advice. Notes Thomas U. Berger, Cultures of Antimilitarism: National Security in Germany and Japan (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen, Germany, Pacifism and Peace Enforcement (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006); John S. Duffield, World Power Forsaken: Political Culture, International Institutions, and German Security Policy after Unification (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998). Alastair Iain Johnston, Cultural Realism: Strategic Culture and Grand Strategy in Chinese History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998); Peter J. Katzenstein, The Culture of National Security (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996); Asle Toje, America, the EU and Strategic Culture: Renegotiating the Transatlantic Bargain (Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 2008). Ireland is excluded in this comparison as its neutrality is often considered unarmed due to its relatively small defence forces. See Neal G. Jesse, ‘Choosing to Go It Alone: Irish Neutrality in Theoretical and Comparative Perspective’, International Political Science Review, Vol. 27, No. 1 (January 2006), pp. 7–28. Cf. Marco Wyss, ‘Military Transformation in Europe's Neutral and Non-Allied States’, The RUSI Journal, Vol. 156, No. 2 (2011), pp. 44–51. Daniel Möckli, Valentin Misteli, and Marco Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler und Allianzfreier Staaten Schweiz, Schweden, Österreich, Finnland und Irland im Vergleich (Zurich: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Center for Security Studies [CSS], 2010), p. 61. Thomas Hajnoczi, ‘Austria’, in Emily Munro (ed.), Challenges to Neutral & Non-aligned Countries in Europe and Beyond (Geneva: Geneva Center for Security Policy [GCSP], 2005), p. 8. Ibid. Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), p. 45. Ibid., p. 42. Hajnoczi, ‘Austria’ (note 6), p. 8; Andrew Marshall, ‘Sweden Votes to Join the EU’, The Independent, 14 November 1994; Teija Tiilikainen, ‘Finland: Smooth Adaptation to European Values and Institutions’, in Wolfgang Wessels, Andreas Maurer, and Jürgen Mittag (eds), Fifteen into One? The European Union and Its Member States (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003), p. 150. Swiss Federal Chancellery, ‘Volksabstimmung vom 4. März 2001’, 4 March 2001, available at http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20010304/index.html Hajnoczi, ‘Austria’ (note 6), p. 9. Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), pp. 39, 46. Government Offices of Sweden, ‘Summary of Report by the Swedish Defence Commission’, Press Release, 4 December 2007. European Parliament, ‘Debates’, Presentation of the Programme of the Finnish Presidency, 6 July 2006. Swiss Federal Council, Bericht Über die Aussenpolitik der Schweiz in den 90er Jahren (Berne: Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland, 1993), p. 18. Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), p. 62. Ibid., p. 61. Anders Bjurner, ‘Sweden’, in Hanna Ojanen (ed.), Neutrality and Non-Alignment in Europe Today (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs [UPI] Working Papers, 2003), p. 37; Hajnoczi, ‘Austria’ (note 6), pp. 8–9; Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), pp. 41–3; Kari Möttölä, ‘Finland, the European Union and Nato – Implications for Security and Defence’, in Erich Reiter and Heinz Gärtner (eds), Small States and Alliances (Heidelberg: Springer, 2001), p. 20. Swiss Foreign and Security Policy Network (SSN), ‘Schweizer Beteiligung an internationalen Friedensmissionen seit 1953’, 2011, available at http://www.ssn.ethz.ch/Themendossiers/Dossier-Archiv/Auslandseinsaetze-der-Armee/Chronologie; Swiss Army, ‘Peace Support Worldwide – SWISSINT’, 30 August 2011, available at http://www.vtg.admin.ch/internet/vtg/en/home/themen/einsaetze/peace.html In 1994 a similar popular referendum launched by centre-right parties rejected a proposal to allow Switzerland to supply armed troops to UN peacekeeping operations, by 57 per cent of the votes. Marc Bühlmann, Fritz Sager, and Adrian Vatter, Verteidigungspolitik in der Direkten Demokratie – Eine Analyse der Sicherheits- und Militärpolitischen Abstimmungen in der Schweiz Zwischen 1980 und 2005 (Zürich: Rüegger, 2006), p. 24. Ibid. Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), p. 67. ‘Darabos pocht auf Volksbefragung über Berufsheer’, DiePresse.com (Wien), 2 June 2012, available at http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/762686/Darabos-pocht-auf-Volksbefragung-ueber-Berufsheer Möckli, Misteli, and Wyss, Streitkräftetransformation Neutraler (note 5), pp. 40, 45, 47, 51. Ibid., pp. 9, 80. Ibid., p. 75. Finland's total number of army personnel currently stands at 250,000 troops. It maintains a strong focus on territorial defence capabilities in parallel to its expansion of deployment capabilities. Ibid., p. 65. Ibid., pp. 69–70. Ibid. International Institute for Strategic Studies, Military Balance (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), p. 150. Federal Office for Civil Protection, Switzerland, ‘Protective Structures’, 9 July 2008, available at http://www.bevoelkerungsschutz.admin.ch/internet/bs/en/home/themen/schutzbauten.html Ibid. Daniele Mariani, ‘Kein Land baut mehr Bunker als die Schweiz’, Swissinfo, 7 September 2009, available at http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/specials/die_schweiz_der_rekorde/weltrecorde/Kein_Land_baut_mehr_Bunker_als_die_Schweiz.html?cid=7422086 Federal Office for Civil Protection, Switzerland, ‘Protective Structures’ (note 32). Ministry of the Interior, Finland, ‘Civil Defence’, 9 June 2010, available at http://www.pelastustoimi.fi/en/228511/ Civil Contingencies Agency, Sweden, ‘Skyddsrum’, 12 November 2009, available at https://www.msb.se/sv/Insats-beredskap/Hantera-olyckor-kriser/Skyddsrum/; Notisum, ‘Lag (2006:545) om skyddsrum, 2006, available at http://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/20060545.htm The Federal State of Carinthia can accommodate 89 per cent of the population in fallout shelters whereas Vienna can currently only house three per cent. There are civil protection shelters for a further 35 per cent of the Austrian population, although they are currently not fully operational. Katharina Fritze, ‘Schutzräume nur für 8% der Österreicher’, Kommunal (Wien), August 2002. Katzenstein, The Culture of National Security (note 2), p. 6. Yaacov Vertzberger, The World in Their Minds: Information Processing, Cognition, and Perception in Foreign Policy Decisionmaking (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1990), p. 267. Colin Gray, ‘Strategic Culture as Context: The First Generation of Theory Strikes Back’, Review of International Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1 (January 1999), p. 51. Dalgaard-Nielsen, Germany, Pacifism and Peace Enforcement (note 1), p. 11. Colin Gray, ‘Out of the Wilderness: Prime Time for Strategic Culture’, in J.L. Johnson et al. (eds), Strategic Culture and Weapons of Mass Destruction (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 228. Dalgaard-Nielsen, Germany, Pacifism and Peace Enforcement (note 1), pp. 14–15; Duffield, World Power Forsaken (note 1), p. 39; Jeffrey S. Lantis, ‘Strategic Culture and National Security Policy’, International Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 3 (December 2002), pp. 106–9. Berger, Cultures of Antimilitarism (note 1); Lantis, ‘Strategic Culture and National Security Policy’ (note 43), p. 107. Nils Bubandt, ‘Vernacular Security: The Politics of Feeling Safe in Global, National and Local Worlds’, Security Dialogue, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2005), pp. 275–96. Ibid., p. 291. Ibid., p. 276. Ibid., p. 291. Ibid., p. 277. Oliver Zimmer, A Contested Nation: History, Memory and Nationalism in Switzerland, 1761–1891 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. xiii. Ibid. Ibid, p. xiv. Zimmer, A Contested Nation (note 51). Oskar F. Fritschi, Geistige Landesverteidigung während des Zweiten Weltkriege (Zurich: Fabag, 1971). Willi Gautschi, General Henri Guisan: Commander-in-Chief of the Swiss Army in World War II (Rockville Center, NY: Front Street Press, 2003), pp. 217–39. Ibid., p. 216. Hervé de Weck and Pierre Maurer, ‘Swiss National Defence Policy Revisited’, in M. Milivojevic and Pierre Maurer (eds), Swiss Neutrality and Security (Munich: Berg, 1990), p. 79. Daniel Trachsler, Bundesrat Max Petitpierre (Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2011), p. 54. Ibid. Ibid., p. 91. Ibid., p. 80. Jonas Hagmann, ‘Beyond Exceptionalism? New Security Conceptions in Contemporary Switzerland’, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 31, No. 2 (2010), p. 251. Ibid. Hans von Dach, Der totale Widerstand: Kleinkriegsanleitung für Jedermann (Biel: Zentralsekretariat des Schweizerischen Unteroffiziersverbandes, 1957). Hagmann, ‘Beyond Exceptionalism?’ (note 62), p. 252. Ibid. Author's translation. Original in German: ‘den Kampfgeist der Armee zersetzen und sie letzten Endes handlungsunfähig machen, um, wenn sie dereinst die Stunde der Machtergreifung für gekommen erachten, nicht mehr mit namhaftem Widerstand der militärischen Ordnungsmacht rechnen zu müssen’. Cited in Hans-Ulrich Jost, ‘Die Letzte Schlacht um die Seele des Volkes’, Die Wochenzeitung, 13 July 2006, available at http://www.woz.ch/artikel/print_13642.html Bühlmann, Sager, and Vatter, Verteidigungspolitik in der Direkten Demokratie (note 21). Ibid., p. 25. Author's translation. Original in German: ‘Armee, Militär und Rüstung waren in der Schweiz des 20. Jahrhunderts keine Sach-, sondern Weltanschauungsfragen, und die Armee stellte keine der Gesellschaft und der Politik unterstellte Institution dar, sondern war Ausdruck der höchsten Sinngebung des Landes. Dies drückte sich beispielsweise in einem auch anlässlich der Abschaffungsinitiative oft vorgebrachten Schlagwort aus: “Die Schweiz hat keine Armee, sie ist eine Armee.” Demzufolge würde die Abschaffung der Armee das Ende der Schweiz bedeuten.’ (Jost, ‘Die Letzte Schlacht’ [note 67]). Max Frisch, Schweiz ohne Armee? Ein Palaver (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1992). J. Bendix, ‘Switzerland's 700th Anniversary: The Politics of Negotiating a Cultural Display’, Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism, Vol. 21, No. 1–2 (1994), p. 39. Zimmer, A Contested Nation (note 51), p. 238. For example Adolf Muschg, Silvio Borner, Jakob Tanner, and Kurt Spillmann. See Zimmer, A Contested Nation (note 51), pp. 237–8. Ibid., p. 239. Cited in Ibid., p. 238. Michael Gehler, Die Neutralen und die Europäische Integration 1945–1995 (Vienna: Böhlau Verlag Wien, 2000), pp. 379–80. Laurent Goetschel, Zwischen Effizienz und Akzeptanz (Bern: Haupt, 1994), pp. 169–70. Tibor Szvircsev et al., Sicherheit 1999: Aussen-, Sicherheits-und Verteidigungspolitische Meinungsbildung im Trend (Zürich: Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich, 1999), p. 98. Tibor Szvircsev Tresch et al., Sicherheit 2011: Aussen-, Sicherheits-und Verteidigungspolitische Meinungsbildung im Trend (Zürich: Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich, 2011), p.150. Ibid., p. 297. Ibid., p. 306. Ibid., p. 119. Szvircsev et al., Sicherheit 1999 (note 79), p. 171. Szvircsev Tresch et al., Sicherheit 2011 (note 81), p. 127. Ibid., p. 106. Ibid.,p. 21. Szvircsev et al., Sicherheit 1999 (note 79), p. 161; Szvircsev Tresch et al., Sicherheit 2011 (note 81), p. 103. Tibor Szvircsev Tresch et al., Sicherheit 2010: Aussen-, Sicherheits-und Verteidigungspolitische Meinungsbildung im Trend (Zürich: Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich, 2010), p. 125. ‘Die letzten Schüsse aus der “Bestie”’, Basler Zeitung, 21 June 2011; Christoph Stricker, ‘Bisons ziehen sich aus den Schweizer Alpen zurück’, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 22 June 2011. Zimmer, A Contested Nation (note 51).