“Peace is the most powerful weapon for mankind.”—Mahatma Gandhi
Peace is an economic driver for every country, for the world and even more so in a globalized world, where countries and regions are connected. Conflicts and wars interrupt not only supply chains, harming also economies that have nothing directly to do with the conflict, but they destroy countries physically and economically.
From 2020 until recently, Covid was a bio-war. Applied measures and dictates wiped out entire economies and left countries, especially the poorer ones, at the bottom, with unheard-of numbers of bankruptcies and resulting astronomical numbers of unemployment and extreme poverty, leading to many other diseases than Covid – and for many to death.
The Politically Incorr...
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A WHO study puts the economic loss at 1% of world GDP (US$ 110 trillion in 2024), i.e., about US$ 1.1 trillion. Another study, assessing the value of lives lost which is only partially addressing the economy, puts the figure at US$ 4.4 trillion – see this.
In reality, the economic losses due to Covid and imposed subsidiary measures from 2020 up to the end 2024 may easily be estimated in tens if not hundreds of trillions of dollars.
Assets were wiped out and their real values transferred from the bottom to the top which worldwide statistics prove without a shadow of a doubt: Poverty for the lower half of the population increased drastically, while the riches of the multi-multi billionaires duplicated manifold in the same period.
To be sure, the economic impact of Covid and the ensuing coerced vaccination campaign is not finished yet. Covid clearly was a war, a new kind of bio-war (soon to come molecular wars), killing and disabling silently, without shots, bombs, and explosions.
Economic health and prosperity are questions of peace. And peace is often a matter of diplomacy. Over the last 30 years or so, diplomacy has gradually vanished and today is practically non-existent, especially in the West. Foreign Ministries, Ambassadors and other diplomats should have the capacity of talking with conflicting partners, of shaking hands with them, of listening and using their professional skills to mediate. This, ideally before a war breaks out, and at the latest, when a conflict has started to bring it to a halt.
This capacity is gone. Just look at the European Union. To bring the Ukraine war to an end, instead of going to Russia or inviting the Kremlin to Brussels for peace talks, Ms. Von der Leyen, the unelected EU President, as well as the EU’s authority for external relations, are on belligerent footing, promising 800 billion euros to a trillion war-budget to confront Russia by 2030, if not earlier. Germany does the same.
This is sheer economic suicide.
The German and European economies in general are on a free-fall and these resources could be used to for productive and infrastructure investments, instead of destruction.
Diplomacy is also missing in the US. Big-mouthing about “we are the best and greatest… like never before seen in history”(Trump), does not help diplomacy a bit. President Trump promised peace on day one of his presidency. Even if it was meant symbolically only, it is meaningless. Under Trump, Washington has sent and committed tens of billions-worth of weaponry to Israel, to continue the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank and for taking over Lebanon, Syria and who knows how far they will go to attack Iran.
In the Ukraine-Russian conflict, so-called US diplomats are shuttling from Moscow to Kiev, to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, soon Qatar), while Washington keeps promising – and supplying the Zelenskyy regime with billions-worth of weaponry. A clear encouragement to break ceasefires, something Kiev has been doing numerous times from the very beginning of these recent ceasefires, including the one initiated for Easter by President Putin.
So, the killing will not die.
Where is diplomacy?
In the olden days, Switzerland was known and famous for her diplomatic services, for mediating between conflicting countries. Switzerland’s neutrality was engrained in the Swiss DNA. Neutrality is the “raison d’être” for Switzerland.
A neutral Switzerland for Good Services; that is diplomacy at its best, what Swiss tradition has carved out for the Swiss Confederates for almost 400 years.
Swiss neutrality dates to 1515 when Switzerland was defeated at the Battle of Marignano and to the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, which drew a line under the Thirty Years’ War. Swiss neutrality was, however, only formally recognized by the international community in 1815, at the Congress of Vienna.
As a neutral state, Switzerland does not take part in external armed conflicts, provides no armed assistance, and is not a member of any military alliances. In 1907, Switzerland formalized this position with the signing of the Hague Convention governing the rights and obligations of neutral states in the event of war. Therefore: No to NATO.
But neutrality was never enshrined in the Swiss Constitution. The Swiss Federal Constitution, Article 2 states that Switzerland “shall pursue a policy of peace and non-intervention.” This comes close to neutrality, but not quite.
This may be the legal grounds, why in the last 20 years or so Swiss neutrality has been “softened” – mostly for economic reasons, financial greed and for politically “doing the right thing,” being in tune with the EU, and those who give the EU orders, Washington. For example, one of the big “not-to-dos” for a neutral country, is taking over the US and EU sanctions against Russia, or any country for that matter.
This has unfortunately happened over the past years. Every time the two regional blocks, Washington and Brussels, issued new sanctions against Russia, Switzerland went along.
When Switzerland offered her good services to mediate the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov said in no uncertain words – NO, Switzerland is no longer neutral, no longer credible as a neutral mediator. So, peace talks were held in Saudi Arabia instead of Geneva. Now the traditional Swiss role of neutrality to mediate conflicts, are taken over by Riyadh, Istanbul, Doha – and who else is next?
When in the Course of ...
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The Swiss weapon industry is not significant compared with the rest of the world, but significant enough for the greed of its shareholders to benefit from the lucrativeness of wars. Therefore, Switzerland is moving ever closer to NATO – the worldwide war machine.
This must be reversed and it may. A people’s referendum for Swiss neutrality is pending and may be voted on in early 2026. If accepted by the people, Swiss neutrality will be enshrined in the Swiss Constitution.
The resolution of conflicts is essential for a well running economy, worldwide, as well as regionally and all the way down to the sovereign local-national levels. Peace economics, be it in Switzerland or other countries that do not just profess neutrality but also practice it, like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, not least China, and to some extent India, and certainly others, are benefitting from their political position. Their economic performance over the last few years with a GDP growth from between 5% and 7% is testimony for neutrality and peace leading to economic prosperity.
The BRICS are not quite there yet, but one of their stated objectives is being neutral in world affairs. With ever-more BRICS associates a growing network of peace-loving and peace-promoting nations is emerging.
The future lies in neutrality by which, We, the People, will win peace.
The original source of this article is Global Research.
