On Sunday 10 November Senior Course began their visit to Switzerland, with a first stop in the beautiful village of St Gallen for a briefing on security policy at canton level by COL Jörg Köhler, Director of the Office for Civil Protection and Military Affairs and Head of Crisis Management. He spoke about the challenges of the cantons, which are not only experiencing the impact of climate change (e.g., fire risk related to drought, difficult conditions for farmers, effects on fauna) but also faced with challenges such as cyber attacks, management of refugees, changing demographics and animal diseases.
The speaker identified a number of essentials for management of these challenges (promotion of individual responsibility and resilience; cooperation of police, fire brigade, health services, civil protection and other actors). Particular attention has to be given to the country’s high density of critical infrastructure, the aim being to maintain performance permanently with possible support from the Armed Forces. From the operational point of view, the focus is on integrated risk management, the network system (cantonal – intercantonal – national – international) and measures led by the Staff for Crisis Management.
After the briefing the Senior Course visited St Gallen, whose “Stiftsbibliothek” library is designated as a World Heritage Site.
In the evening Lieutenant General Aldo C. Schellenberg, Chief of Joint Operations Command / Deputy Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces, hosted Senior Course 135 for a dinner.
On 11 November, Lieutenant General Schellenberg provided a briefing about the Armed Forces, explaining that almost all citizens belong to them. The budget for defence expenditure is small (0.8% of GPD). Switzerland’s long tradition of neutrality means no involvement in armed interstate conflicts, no use of Swiss territory or airspace by belligerents, and no membership in military alliances. Switzerland must therefore ensure its own defence. Despite Switzerland’s neutrality, there is cooperation and interoperability, though subject to certain conditions. Switzerland provides support for UN Security Council resolutions and for UN peace keeping operations.
There was then a briefing on Swiss security policy, by Nicolas Plattner, Head of Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Challenges include illegal manipulation and acquisition of information, terrorism and violent extremism, armed attack, criminality, disruption of supplies and natural catastrophes. With regard to NATO/PfP, the speaker specified that Switzerland is a long-standing and committed NATO partner and the biggest financial contributor to trust funds among the partners. He stressed that preventative measures and dialogue are a must to cope with such challenges as influence operations, hybrid threats and cyber attacks.
Bruno Rösli, Head of Defence and Arms Procurement Policy at the Directorate for Security Policy, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, then spoke about current policy issues of the Swiss Confederation. In relation to Switzerland’s direct democracy, he explained that the state serves the citizen, who thus effectively “owns the state”; legislative power is delegated by the people to the parliament, but with the option to correct parliamentary decisions. The Swiss citizen elects representatives and decides on issues at federal, cantonal and communal level. S/he can also initiate changes to the constitution and can reject laws adopted by parliament. Switzerland is a federal state with 26 cantons. These are sovereign bodies, within the limits set by the Federal Constitution. They exercise all rights that are not vested in the Confederation, the principle of subsidiarity being the basis for the allocation and performance of state tasks. With the canton taking prime responsibility for its own internal security, the pillars of security strategy are autonomy, cooperation and engagement.
These initial presentations were followed by a panel discussion.
There was then a talk by Dr Oliver Thränert, Head of the Centre for Security Studies (CSS), an independent think tank, which promotes understanding of security policy challenges as a contribution to a more peaceful world. The speaker explained the various domains covered by CSS research. This was followed by a Q&A session.
Finally, the NDC’s Swiss Faculty Adviser Col Curtenaz gave a presentation on Switzerland with particular reference to NATO partnership, examining specific limitations, dependencies and challenges.
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Collège de Défense de l'OTAN