Letters to the Editor

How often have we heard these words since the Second World War! But I have never heard or read how peace is to be achieved in any practical way. It is said, resignedly, that waging war is human nature and that peace, at best, is a desirable vision that will be realised in some distant future – if mankind still exists.
  But warfare is a man-made problem and can therefore be solved by people. Since we are talking about human behaviour, the question arises as to what motivates people to go to war and, from the answer, what can be done about it. After a century of modern psychology, we should actually be able to answer these questions. We know the facts:

1. Wars are predominantly decided by men in positions of power.
2. Wars are predominantly carried out by powerless young men whose brains are not yet fully developed.
3. Fear does not allow for rational considerations.

This raises the following questions:

1. Strong men do not need power. Why do these men need destructive war?
2. Why do mothers allow the children they have brought into the world –loved, and cared for, and provided with an education – to invade other countries in order to kill the children of other mothers? Or, to be killed themselves?
3. Why are practical alternatives to war not explored by intelligent and capable men and women before a generalised fear has been allowed to develop? And as a side question: Is the media still doing its job of supporting alternatives to war, or are they helping to fuel the fear?

The practical measures to end warfare arise from the answers to these questions. These measures must then be adopted and advanced by a global coalition of mothers who are prepared to take all possible steps to achieve this end, with the full support of good men.
  This requires an appropriate organisation. The economy provides us with excellent models for this. And the economy (with the exception of arms manufacturers) would certainly support this organisation. Who wants to see their customers dead?
  Last, general question: We all have to die at some point. Why do we insist on accelerating the process through war?

Michel Mortier, Zug

A famous book title: ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoi. 200 years ago, it was about an invasion of Russia. Today, ‘friendly’ governments are ‘helping’ Ukraine to prolong the war, sending more and more lethal weapons instead of promoting existing treaty documents for peace between the warring parties. In spring 2022, a peaceful settlement was already within reach (negotiations in Istanbul). Everyone is longing for a sustainable peace – finally. Today, Switzerland is also biased, and Bern has apparently forgotten the enormous value of foreign policy neutrality and Switzerland’s ‘good offices’* in times of war. In my view, the most important thing is to return to neutrality. We can all demand and strengthen neutrality by applying pressure to our politicians. We do not need to join the war policy. We need a genuine peace policy.

Renate Dünki, Oberwangen

* In international law and international relations, the term ‘good offices’ under the UN Charter refers to all diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives by a third country or a neutral institution whose purpose is to resolve a bilateral or international conflict or to bring the parties to the negotiating table. (Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs)