CSS Blog Network
Image courtesy of Adi Goldstein/Unsplash.
This article was originally published by the Elcano Royal Institute on 14 January 2021.
It had to happen eventually. Out of all the countries in the world, the hacking back debate has finally entered the political discourse in neutral Switzerland. While it is still too early to determine where the discussion will be heading toward, it is also the perfect time to insert a new perspective on hacking back.
Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization, Climate Change – many overarching trends and developments have the potential to alter the lives of billions of people in the coming years. This graphic maps the relevant trends for the Swiss civil protection system in the next 5 to 10 years and outlines examples of their interdependencies.
For an analysis on how these trends will affect the civil protection system in Switzerland, read this CSS “Trend Analysis Civil Protection 2030 Uncertainties, Challenges and Opportunities” report here.
As a highly developed, landlocked resource-poor country that relies on imports for many vital commodities and services, Switzerland is comparatively vulnerable to disruptions of supply. This graphic provides an overview of a selected number of such imports and more.
To find out about how Switzerland attempts to ensure the supply of essential goods and services in times of crises, read Andrin Hauri’s CSS Analyses in Security Policy on ‘National Economic Supply as an Emergency Precaution.’
This graphic illustrates how pandemic preparation in Switzerland has developed over the past 25 years as a step-by-step learning process in step with international developments. The most important driving forces behind the accelerating national and international pandemic preparations were the epidemics and pandemics that occurred between 2002 and 2010: above all the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2002/03, the worldwide spread of the avian flu virus H5N1 from 2004 and the “swine flu” pandemic in 2009/10.
For more on Switzerland’s coronavirus crisis management during the first wave of the pandemic, read our newly published Bulletin 2020 in Swiss Security Policy here (in German).
This graphic provides an overview of the composition of the UN Security Council. A common criticism is that this composition and the existence of permanent veto powers reflect the situation at the end of World War II. This is considered outdated by many UN member states, including Switzerland, which has been campaigning for reforms since 2005.
This year, Switzerland applied for the first time to take a seat as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Being a member would undeniably entail many opportunities, but also some risks. For insights on the Swiss candidacy for the Security Council, see Fabien Merz’s CSS Analyses in Security Policy here.