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By BRIAN M. CARNEY The Swiss newspaper Le Matin heralded Sunday's news that Switzerland had voted to join the U.N. -- after 50 years of holding out -- with, of all things, an image of vintage Americana. Under a caption that read, "It's a small step for the world, but a big step for Switzerland !" a cartoon portrayed a Swiss peasant as Neil Armstrong, traveling from a moon labeled "Switzerland " to step out onto Earth and shake Kofi Annan's hand. The lead story on the vote carried the headline: "The Swiss Don't Fear the U.N." Opponents of Swiss membership -- all of them Swiss -- were as apocalyptic as the supporters were jubilant. "Freedom and the rights of the people will be limited," declaimed Christoph Blocher, a member of the Swiss parliament who led the opposition. The U.N. as a threat to freedom? Who's writing these press releases, the militia of Montana? The U.N. can't even get weapons inspectors into Iraq; how is it going to threaten Switzerland ? Beyond the Alps, the praise for the outcome was universal. The New York Times, speaking of the country that houses the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and the European headquarters of the U.N. itself, ran out the headline, "Switzerland Takes a Step Back From Isolation." The Swedes, whose "Please Don't Invade Us" brand of neutrality contrasts sharply with the Swiss commitment to homeland defense, struck a similar note. One Swedish paper called the "Yes" vote "a step toward opening up relations with the outside world." British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was similarly effusive, declaring that joining the U.N. would put Switzerland "at the heart of global decision making" -- apparently unaware that Switzerland is already the unofficial capital of international community. For the Swedes, the British and the Times, this delight is understandable, coming as it does with an inevitable touch of Schadenfreude at watching the holier-than-thou Swiss admit that even they desire the recognition and acceptance of the "international community." It's not, as Le Matin would have it, a question of the Swiss fearing the U.N.; the U.N., rather, has long had reason to resent the Swiss for their example of autarchy, which has represented a kind of permanent thumb in the eye of the "international community." While most nations crave the legitimacy that U.N. recognition confers, the headline for the vote might well have been "Swiss Grant Recognition to the U.N." All of which makes Switzerland's apparent crisis of confidence that much more disappointing. Why, after so many years of proud independence, this sudden desire -- and it is sudden, for just 15 years ago the Swiss rejected U.N. membership by a 3-1 margin -- for "acceptance"? Have the legends of William Tell's defiance of the Hapsburgs and other tales of fierce Swiss independence lost their power? This moment has long been desired by one group of Swiss -- the politicians. For those in the government of a mountain nation of seven million souls, the only path to political advancement is not up, but out. But where to go after Bern, if Geneva, in your own backyard no less, is closed to you? Fierce Swiss independence makes for a lonely time when your fellow politicians get to play in a much bigger pond. Swiss politicians have tried to break into the international community before, only to be thwarted by their own stiff-necked people, who had William Tell served up with their mothers' milk. And, to be fair, the Swiss version of armed neutrality has served it well -- avoiding the devastation of the 20th century's two world wars is one of the reasons Switzerland is among the world's richest countries today. Swiss cartoonists notwithstanding, it's also not as if the Swiss have been living on the moon. The international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is headed by Carla del Ponte, who's Swiss. And when Third World despots need a place to stash their booty, "Swiss bank account" are the first words on their lips. Then, there's the international community's record of protecting its fellows. Who would prefer to be Poland in World War II, with its security guarantees from Britain and France, rather than Switzerland standing on its own? The fact is, Switzerland is in many ways the most international country in the world, with world-spanning banking operations and a dominant position in the market for international organizations. It's not "isolationism" that bugs the New York Times about the Swiss, it's Switzerland's refusal to be a joiner. When everyone else is deeply tied to the idea of the importance of what they're doing, having someone stand outside -- and worse, succeed -- is deeply irritating. But this conflates participation in bureaucracy with international engagement. Now that the Swiss will be on the inside, they will be just one (small) country among 190. Before Sunday, they stood apart, and got all the attention (and resentment) that comes with having the courage to resist the herd. Still, the desire for acceptance is a powerful force, and the Swiss people, or just over half of them anyway, have finally succumbed. No wonder everyone else is so pleased. Mr. Carney is an editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal Europe. c
by Wall Street Journal Europe |