Will Switzerland be able to bring its ideals to the UN Security Council?
Switzerland in the Security Council series, episode 1:
Switzerland has put human rights at the forefront when presenting its candidacy for the post of non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. But will Swiss diplomats be able to hold the upper hand against countries as powerful as Russia and China? Experts have mixed opinions on the matter.
This content was published on February 21, 2022 – 09:00
Opening doors, strengthening networks, finding partners to advance its own agenda and securing a seat or two in a UN agency – these are realistic expectations for any country that obtains a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. United.
Opportunities to influence the agenda as a temporary participant in the most powerful UN body are limited. The real power rests with the club of five – Russia, China, France, the United States and the United Kingdom – who hold permanent seats and the right to veto any decision made by the 15-member council..
What is the United Nations Security Council?
The 15-seat council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations. Like the UN, it rose from the ashes of World War II and held its first session in January 1946.
Its powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, issuing international sanctions and authorizing military action. It is the only organ of the United Nations system empowered to issue binding resolutions on member states. Five of its members – the victors of World War II – are permanent. The other ten serve two-year terms and are elected on a regional basis. The presidency of the Security Council rotates among its members.
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brave words
Given the power dynamics, making human rights the backbone of Switzerland’s candidacy for the 2023/2024 term could be seen as a bold move.
“The firm belief that respect for the rule of law and the realization of human rights for all are the foundations of peaceful, prosperous and sustainable societies guides our foreign policy,” Switzerland said in its request.
The government promotes the Swiss candidacy with this video:
The vote scheduled for June 2022 is considered a mere formality. Switzerland has leveraged its foreign policy achievements such as conflict mediation, peacebuilding, and the promotion of democratic principles such as power-sharing and inclusiveness in the international arena in its application.
Switzerland is no stranger to high-stakes power politics. He exercises seven protecting power mandates, also called “good offices”, including representing American interests in Iran since 1980 and Russia in Georgia since 2008.
“Nobody, not even Russia, will be surprised if Switzerland represents and defends the positions for which it has gained international renown in the Security Council,” says Fabien Merz, senior researcher in Swiss foreign and security policy at the Center for security studies of the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich.
He is convinced that Switzerland will be able to defend its values and ideals. “Switzerland’s foreign policy is independent, and that is why it is internationally known,” he says. “Joining the UN Security Council should not change that.”
Switzerland has had to take positions in the past, some of which have not been welcomed by the superpowers, for example when joining the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.
Alarming backlash against civil society
Political scientist Leandra Bias of the swisspeace foundation believes that the non-permanent seat at the superpower table will open up opportunities for Switzerland. She expects civil society to get a voice at the highest UN body and for feminist peacebuilding to be strengthened.
Bias has researched authoritarian regimes and found that the current rise of authoritarianism and autocracy is linked to human rights abuses. She mentions Russia’s failed attempt to introduce a UN Security Council resolution that would have undermined women’s rights in conflict.
With the UN’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda, launched 21 years ago, Russia intended to water down previously agreed commitments to protect women from gender-based violence. Russia’s proposal threatened to reduce the protection of individual women and only protect families, she said.
“It is worrying that such achievements could be undermined by the highest body of the UN,” she said, calling it an alarming setback. Switzerland, she argues, should use its seat to solve these problems.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (left), who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin, who held it last year, at the United Nations headquarters in New York in autumn 2021. The UN Security Council, for which Switzerland is a candidate, also meets there. Keystone / Jean-marc Crevoisier
Human security at home
Bias is eager to hear if and how Switzerland will build on its achievements in feminist peacebuilding on the Security Council. She also mentions human security, which only appears on Switzerland’s global agenda.
“Human security is also a national issue because it concerns not only women and minorities, but also structurally disadvantaged people and people with disabilities,” she explains. She thinks that the Swiss co-chairmanship of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda of the UN will make things happen.
Women, Peace and Security Program
Together with South Africa, Switzerland co-chairs the “Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network”External link (WPS).
This network assists Member States in implementing the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
This co-president could give new impetus to domestic politics, believes political scientist Leandra Bias. “South Africa has made more progress in this area than Switzerland because it has a more progressive and ambitious attitude. This is why the co-presidency could help Switzerland to move forward in this area,” she says.
The co-presidency is linked to two annual meetings. The first will take place in Geneva in the spring, the second in South Africa in the fall.
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The Swiss government has already scored points by indicating that it will not act alone in the New York mission but will consult civil society organizations. “Channels that enable civil society participation are extremely valuable,” says Bias.
Switzerland already supports UN decisions
The opportunities of a two-year term on the Security Council should not be underestimated, according to Simon Hug, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Geneva. It highlights the right to submit resolutions as well as the formal and informal means of exerting influence.
“A non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council would allow Switzerland to better link the Council’s decisions to its own interests,” Hug told SWI swissinfo.ch.
But some fear that a seat on the Security Council will compromise Switzerland’s neutrality. “Even as a non-member, Switzerland must support decisions in which it was not involved,” says Hug.
Risk of countermeasures
Swiss diplomat Paul Widmer thinks Switzerland’s membership would be a bad thing for a country that has built its international reputation on neutrality. Once in the Security Council, Switzerland should take a stand, because it would further weaken the UN body by abstaining from voting.
“That would be inconsistent with its role as a mediator in international disputes, but would weaken that role,” Widmer said.
If, on the contrary, Switzerland takes sides, Widmer says that some members could resent it and act directly or indirectly, for example in the field of economic exchanges or in its mission of good offices. Membership could also jeopardize Geneva’s role as an international platform for diplomacy.
He also sees some risks for the humanitarian missions of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) based in Geneva. “Taking sides could complicate humanitarian action or make it impossible.”
Deepen the gap
Widmer is also worried about possible negative national repercussions. “I have no doubt that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make a huge effort to communicate the decisions of the Security Council to Switzerland. But I’m sure a siege would drive the wedge in our society [caused by the Covid-19 pandemic]and we could certainly do without it.
According to him, Switzerland has its place in the UN but not in the Security Council, where the five permanent veto powers have the last word anyway. It belongs to the General Assembly because it is an advisory body.
“Switzerland could make its voice heard there and contribute its experience,” he says. “Switzerland’s duty is above all to mediate between nations and to do so with the utmost discretion.”
(Translated from German by Billi Bierling)
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