The editorial team at «Swiss Standpoint» wishes you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2026.

A warm welcome!

You have our trilingual online publication in front of you. We hope you will take your time to read it and recommend us further. We are happy to inform you about new publications with our newsletter.

The Arabs are transparently displaying their crossover to multi-alignment in a US-led Middle Eastern war

by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India

(25 October 2024) Reuters reported on Friday quoting three sources in the Persian Gulf that the regional states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites as “part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire”. The exclusive Reuters report singled out Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran.

The EU must change course on Ukraine, or risk breaking itself apart

by Michael von der Schulenburg* and Ruth Firmenich**

(18 October 2024) The EU seems convinced to not only continue, but to increase its effort to escalate the war in Ukraine. No one seems to be able to understand the consequences.

On the humanitarian situation in Somalia

by Heinrich Frei*

Somalia has a population of 18.7 million, with around three million living in the capital Mogadishu. Somalia is more than 15 times larger than Switzerland and about 1.8 times the size of Germany. More than 3.8 million people in Somalia have been forced to flee their region due to the war, which has been raging for more than 30 years, and natural disasters. They live in camps on the outskirts of the major cities under catastrophic conditions. Women and children make up 80 per cent of the internally displaced persons and are exposed to great risks.

Council of States rejects UN migration pact

by Ralph Studer*

(18 October 2024) (CH-S) Ralph Studer presents the decision of the Council of States from the end of September on migration for the organisation “Zukunft CH”. We would like to reproduce the summary of the council debate here because of its importance for the country.
United Nations General Assembly

Speech by King Abdullah II of Jordan

Remarkable. Critical. Forward-looking.

(18 October 2024) (Edit.) At the end of September 2024, the Jordanian king gave a speech in New York on the conflict in Palestine. He looked back on a quarter of a century of UN General Assemblies that he had experienced: “[...] I cannot remember a time that was more dangerous than this. [...] Our United Nations is facing a crisis that is calling its legitimacy into question and threatening to destroy global trust and moral authority.”

Education for a responsible and mature citizenship or ideologisation of students

by Marita Brune-Koch

(4 October 2024) Educating children and young people to become responsible citizens is one of the most important goals of primary and secondary school. They grow into our democratic systems and will shape them in the future. However, the question of how best “to educate responsible citizens” is once again the subject of fierce debate. The discussions range from the point of view that political education should begin in kindergarten to the demand for neutrality of schools and teachers in political and ideological matters.