Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Countries that try to stay impartial in international disputes are having a tough go these days. That’s also true for countries that serve as trusted interlocutors or simply provide safe venues for adversaries to talk. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine along with U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariffs on friendly nations and his war with Iran have forced a reckoning of the meaning of diplomatic or military neutrality. On Sunday, the country that epitomized neutrality for centuries, Switzerland, added some clarity to its identity as an icon of evenhandedness. In a referendum, more than two-thirds of Swiss voters rejected a proposal to enshrine ‘perpetual and armed neutrality’ in the country’s constitution.” (09/28/26)