Commemorating the General

For the first time since Tsar Alexander I in 1819, a Russian head of state is visiting Switzerland. Today, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is coming for an official visit to the small Alpine country.

The main purpose of Medvedev’s visit is to celebrate the 210th anniversary of Russian General Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Suvorov’s victorious military expedition across the Alps, which resulted in the defeat of Napoleon’s occupying forces in Switzerland. Following Switzerland’s liberation from the French, the modern Swiss Confederation (more or less within today’s political borders) came into being.

Suvorov crossing the alps / Wikimedia Foundation
Suvorov crossing the alps / Wikimedia Foundation

Many Swiss living in the mountainous areas through which Suvorov’s triumphant troops passed remain deeply grateful to the Russian general, who is said to have never lost a battle and is seen as one of the greatest military geniuses ever to lead an army. He also coined phrases such as “To surprise is to vanquish”, ” Train hard, fight easy” or “Speed is essential, but haste harmful”. Both the Swiss and the Russian consider the Russian general a military hero. No questions asked.

Where Is Tony?

photo: Emanuele / real desert storm  / fotosensibile 2.0
photo: Emanuele / real desert storm / fotosensibile 2.0

I don’t see any reason to be optimistic about a possible revival of serious peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is busy trying to arrange a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week. But, what happened to the ‘Quartet’ – made up of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN – which was supposed to be an active peace broker?

Is It Still Democracy?

Photo: Gene Han/flickr
Photo: Gene Han/flickr

In January 1990, CNNMoney.com ran the article: “South America: Democracy Triumphs.” But is it still really the case?

Over the past few years a new game has developed in South America: how to stay in power even if your mandate is over. Recently, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe signed legislation calling for a national referendum on amending the Constitution to allow him to seek office for a third time.

The overall picture is much darker. Out of 18 Latin American countries, only four have had a president that actually respected the term of his mandate: Mexico, Uruguay, Honduras and Guatemala. The last political coup d’état in Honduras took place when former president Manuel Zelaya tried to amend his country’s constitution to stay in office.

According to the Democracy Index of the Economist, only Costa Rica and Uruguay are the only full democracies on the continent. The rest are divided between the categories “Flawed Democracy” and “Authoritarian Regime” with Cuba closing the South American ranking.

Why does no one question the behavior of those seizing power ‘legally,’ but condemn acts such as the last military coup in Honduras? Does seizing power through a legal way, a constitutional referendum, make it more ‘democratic’ than seizing the power by force?

And why do citizens allow this to happen? According to a survey published in 2004, only 53 percent of the South Americans still believe in democracy. Does that mean that in South America, no one dares to fight for a true democracy? If this is the case, history has been proven right: starting a democracy when there is no popular demand will only benefit the elites and is therefore condemned to fail.

From the ISN Digital Library

How to Strengthen Democracy in Latin America

Statehood and Governance: Challenges in Latin America

A Region Divided: Transformation towards Democracy and Market Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean

The ISN @ EINIRAS

EINIRAS - European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies
EINIRAS - European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies

September is the great month of academic conferences. This also holds true for information and documentation specialist conferences. Members of EINIRAS, the European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies are meeting 16-18 September in Madrid to discuss how the development of the internet and changing user behavior is affecting their work – and I have the opportunity to represent the ISN and its great achievements for this occasion.

EINIRAS is an association of research institutions dealing with information and documentation on international relations in research and political practice, bringing together institutions from 24 countries. The ISN plays a prominent role in it and is represented on the EINIRAS’ steering committee.

The topic of the conference is of great relevance for us and for our colleagues since nearly all of IR & security-related information services are delivered online nowadays. Technologies like RSS and GIS offer great opportunities to present information, mobile internet and e-book readers open up new delivery channels, and powerful new players in the market like Google are potential threats to the big shots in the field.

On the other hand, not all libraries, academic institutions or research bodies are known as early adoptors of the latest IT gadgets and features – sometimes for good reasons. Thus I look forward to seeing how my colleagues from all over Europe approach the issue and to learn what they see as valuable additions to our information services. More on that by the end of this week!

Democratic Fundamentalism in Switzerland

Imagine you are asked to vote on a treaty concluded between your home and your neighboring country. The treaty aims at improving cooperation in border control matters between the two states. Would you vote in favor of or against adopting the treaty? Or would you not go to the polls at all?

How much democratic control of foreign policy? Photo: courtesy of Kanton Glarus
How much direct democracy in foreign policy-making? Photo: courtesy of Kanton Glarus

The Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (AUNS) launched a popular initiative, which, if adopted by Swiss voters, will amend the Constitution so as to require a popular vote on all but the most trivial international treaties. What sounds like empowerment from a committed democrat’s point of view sounds like handcuffs from a foreign policymaker’s perspective.

Yet, the motivation behind AUNS’ initiative is not so much democratic as politically strategic. The group’s main goal is to prevent Switzerland from joining the EU, overtly, or as they fear, covertly. AUNS members, which unsuccessfully vowed against Switzerland joining the UN in 2002, lament that the Swiss political elite is too open-minded toward the world. The strategy they employ is an old one: If you think the majority of the people is behind your cause, you ask them, if not, you ignore them.