12 March 2012 No 11 ISSN 1664-7963

Current Concerns PO Box CH-8044 Zurich Current Concerns Switzerland The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, Phone: +41 44 350 65 50 Fax: +41 44 350 65 51 and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law

E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.currentconcerns.ch English Edition of Zeit-Fragen

French soldiers and “journalists” operating the secret war in Syria What does the French intervention in Damascus has to do with the Gripen purchase and the scrapping of modernized Swiss armored personnel carriers? me. We previously reported that for- Now, secret negotiations for their re- Syria, or Sarkozy and his Foreign Minister eign contingents of Special Forces re- lease via the Russian Federation, the Unit- Juppé must provide more explanation to inforce, train and develop the so-called ed Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of their countrymen, holding the baby of the “insurgents” or the so-called “free army Oman are in progress. The French run a long-legged president’s wife to the camer- of Syria” posing in Adidas trainers and presidential election campaign. The affair as is not enough. sneakers on photos and that they operate must either be kept under cover for value the radio communications. of large ransom payments from France to continued on page 2 Heavy armaments come from France as well. During the first three days of fighting in Homs, the rebels prevented the Syrian army from advancing into the rebels’ dis- Basic resistance against the reduction of the army in Switzerland tricts. They fired Milan type anti-tank mis- Group Giardino adopts resolution against the scrapping of the Spz 63/87 siles on all approaching tanks and armored vehicles; that is why the Syrians had to Private sponsorship for armored tracked vehicle (abbrev. Spz) in prospect eliminate the rebels’ battle positions with ab/me. At the general assembly on ed and no longer functional, are incor- artillery and rocket launchers, even if they Saturday, 3 March 2012, in Berne, the rect. The M113 will continue to be used might risk the lives of residents that way. Group Giardino passed a resolution in- in more than 57 countries (war zones tending to stop the scrapping of some included), including USA, Israel, Italy, Milan missiles for the rebels 350 combat-enhanced armored tracked Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Nether- Each of the Milan fighting positions at the vehicle Spz 63/89 (M113). The Group Gi- lands, Turkey and by the Brazil army. In entrance corridors to the Baba Amr dis- ardino is a non-party grassroots move- Germany, the M113 has been in service ment in Switzerland, which rightly sees until 2010 (but not combat-enhanced trict of Homs costs about 120,000 francs the Swiss army and security policy in a models). Only the Hezbollah and Leb- (rocket launchers, thermal imaging tar- desperate situation and calls for “a radi- anese private armies have discharged get device, radio, etc.), each shot or each cal course correction of security policy.” the M113. rocket costs 15,000 francs. During the The general assembly instructed the The scrapping is irresponsible. Part of battle they fired in rounds of one to three executive board: our troops of the Army XXI have no al- shots per minute. Count: There was obvi- – to stop the transport of some fully lotted vehicles or would be transport- ously no lack of money. The devices had operational 350 Spz 63/89 from the ed without protection by trucks. When been manufactured by the company Nord- storage depot Turtmann/Valais to the VBS has little money for combat, Aviation (France) and MBB (Germany). the scrapping company Schnyder it is not necessary to scrap operational Gotthard AG, Emmen/LU by means material worth millions. This is not only The delivery to the so-called “Free Syri- of a judicial super provisional direc- incomprehensible, but absurd! It is this an army” was done out of the supplies of tive we are resisting to.” the German Bundeswehr and the British – to clarify without delay against Stelzer continued that talks are un- Army, as “Réseau Voltaire” reported. In which person or body a charge derway with other groups of the civil April 2011, Qatar had already admitted may be brought due to negligent society. Wider discontent is emerging. to having delivered Milan missiles to the and illegal scrapping of army ma- The vote on the issue that the rifle stay Libyan rebels. terial, and after immediate judi- with the soldier was won by an over- cial review and assessment to file whelming majority. By that vote the French intelligence colonel captured a criminal complaint with the re- people stopped disarmament and de- mobilization. That is why they are mo- As for the French soldiers, the Syrians sponsible Prosecuting Attorney. The spokesman for the working bilizing resistance now. captured a colonel of the French for- group Spz, Willy P. Stelzer (Major Already several families have eign intelligence service DGSE who is of the armored troops) commented said that they are ready to become a specialist for wireless communication. upon request: sponsors for a Spz. They are will- The commitment of the Elysée Palace is “These tanks are fully functional and ing to annually transfer money for rather significant. As “Réseau Voltaire” would be operational. For years they the costs of maintenance and stor- learned from a reliable source, another have been standing in caverns in Turt- age of a Spz to a special account. French agent was captured on Monday 27 mann. The fuel tanks were filled with Stelzer soon expects the signing of February 2012 in Azouz (in the district diesel. After installing the batteries, the sponsorships for the Spz in the three- of Idlib, near the Turkish border) by the tanks can be immediately set in motion. digit range. “If the mothballing causes The claims made by Federal Councilor National Syrian Army. Thus, the number Maurer that the tanks were outdat- continued on page 2 of French prisoners has increased to 19 (nineteen!). No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 2

”French soldiers and …” back the French agents to the French em- www.voltairenet.org/Des-rebelles-Baba- continued from page 1 bassy without the Lebanese police being Amr allowed to intervene. www.voltairenet.org/Un-19eme-agent- The French, known for dirty tricks of With the arrogance of the former co- francais-arrete-en the coarser kind sunk the Greenpeace lonial or mandate power, the French am- www.voltairenet.org/La-France-ouvre- yacht (“Rainbow Warrior”) near New bassador had previously intervened in in- des-negociations Zealand in 1986. Two French intelligence tra-Lebanese affairs on 23 February by *** agents were only released by the New explaining to the “Daily Star”: “Lebanon me. One ought to have such chutzpah. In- Zealanders, after Paris had paid a few mil- should refrain from intervention into the stigating a synthetic civil war with the lion to Greenpeace and the New Zealand riots in Syria”. help of agents and senior officers in Syria, government and opened the French mar- then exfiltrating (such is the official jar- ket for the import of New Zealand sheep Sources: gon) them by abuse of diplomatic conven- meat. This is still giving the French sheep farmers a hard time. This time, with 19 www.voltairenet.org/La-France-exfiltre- captive agents, the deal will probably be ses-agents continued on page 3 more expensive. Perhaps Mrs Assad will soon become the godmother of Nicolas’ baby. Or the like. We should not be sur- ”Basic resistance …” to date (eg. add-on armor, etc.) for a prised. continued from page 1 lot of money (tax money nota bene!) must be stopped. Unorthodox methods Rebels of Baba Amr to surrender no cost for the VBS there is no more are necessary. Etatism of the worst kind Just after the UN Security Council’s veto reason for scrapping.” A joint venture in the Federal House must yield. If the on the Syria resolution, the Syrian army between private partners and the VBS VBS wants to, it can also have a Tahir is to be established in terms of pub- Square. Enough is enough. We want gained the mastery. Soon, the 35 Western lic-private partnership. One could also military advisors and journalists that had those at the top to show mental capaci- imagine a foundation that administers ty and backbone again or to resign. We not yet been caught fled from the “Islam- the sponsorships. Major Stelzer is con- ic Emirate of Baba Amr”. About 2,000 should say “No”. The M 113 will bear up fident that a broad-based movement against Steinbrück’s cavalry for quite fighters in Homs also lost all hope that will be up until Easter. some time, and our neighbor France, a the great promises made to them by the The president of Giardino, Hermann nuclear power is waging war on Libya Western side would become reality. On Suter, historian PhD, said. “As a former and now on Syria; without a UN man- 29 February 2012 several hundred fight- rector of the teachers‘ college of Lu- date! Anyway, we do not want submis- ers surrendered after having ruled over cerne, I am sure that whole families or sive gestures, no disarmament against the small area of the size of less than 50 even school classes can sign a sponsor- the people’s will. If the Federal Coun- ship for a Spz.” The children may give football fields (according to FIFA stand- cilor or the SVP do not understand this the Spz – “riflemen bucket” as he calls now, they will later. ards). They left behind artillery guns and them – a name from Swiss geography antitank missiles of the type AT-13/9K115 By the way: On the subject of Philip or history. The children would then be Hildebrand and the Spz: Did he have Metis, among other things. It is still an allowed to come and paint them on accomplices? The franc’s linking to open question how this older Russian the Spzs. Suter said: “Names like Wil- the euro had been planned long be- manufacture, which is fairly common in helm Tell, or Bruder Klaus would be fore. It was something very rare, in- the region, could have got to that place. fine, footballers likeXherdan Shaqi- deed, but a very sure thing to earn ri or “Mr Watch” Nicolas Hayek are to some money with insider speculation. France removed its be expected. Henri Guisan or Elsie At- Is it true that in all of Switzerland, only remaining agents from Syria tenhofer, Margrit Läubli are fine, too.” the Pakistani-American wife of our Then he grins: “Only names like Sam- In any case, the French “military advis- handsome then Chairman of the Cen- uel Schmid and Eveline Widmer-Sch- tral Bank did a little insider trading? ers” fled towards Lebanon. Of course, the lumpf, I would have to discuss with French ambassador in Beirut, Denis Pi- Were all the others across the country the pupils.” of immaculate integrity? All of them? etton, “accidentally” stayed with a con- With this remark Suter propably re- Or were there other confidants – men voy in the area, officially in the border re- fers to the fact that this unfortunate or women – in the Federal Council, gion of Baalbeck in eastern Lebanon. He lady recently caused the Federal Coun- the federal government, the super- traveled with an embassy security team to cil to refuse to follow the request of visory board of the National Bank or the north of Bekaa on the border with the Parliament namely to provide more elsewhere weak in character, as well? Syrian province of Homs. money for the army: The Parliament Were there other persons that made should come back on its decision, since On the Syrian side of the border French little “sideline tradings”? And did Mr it is outrageous in terms of constitu- Hildebrand know about that? Was this officers and experts from the military in- tional law and national policy. The telligence services – some disguised using the reason he was defended with such Federal Council is the employee of the unquestioning loyalty? Or was it love? a journalist status – took care of the fight- people, and therefore should behave Did he impress Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf ers of the free “Syrian” army. They all en- as an employee towards the one who with his sex-appeal? Either way, some- tered Syria illegally. pays the wages. The Federal Council one making such transactions is a se- The Ambassador and his passengers is not the boss. The highest authority curity risk for our country. There are received the French secret service agents in Switzerland are the people and the accomplices, bank employees, for ex- at an irregular border crossing. They had Parliament. ample. Whoever made such trans- *** tried to convey knowledge about the fights actions may be subject to blackmail. in the built-up areas in the “Islamic Emir- He‘s right. The moment has come for These men and women had better qui- ate of Baba Amr” in Homs to the rebels, the people to intervene across the etly resign from office for health rea- board. The mischief that modern mili- sons instead of waiting for discovery. and were quite exhausted and hungry from tary equipment is to be scrapped, ma- Anyway, they should quickly help to the flight. Due to the Vienna Convention, terial which recently was brought up stop the disarmament of Switzerland. diplomatic vehicles must not be searched. Therefore, the convoy was able to bring No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 3

”French soldiers and …” Palestinians, or the residential areas in procurement team on the Swiss side has continued from page 2 Beirut bombed by the Israelis in 2006 or bad memories of the French. We ought to in Grozny not worth such a commitment? be careful. Our neighbor wages a war that tions and simultaneously telling the Leb- Either the West is racist and certain peo- violates international law. When will it anese what to do. ples do not count, or they have double be our turn? CDs containing bank details standards. Or both. When asked to choose have already been stolen, and blackmail- Why are you acting that way, France? between such perverted “Western values” ing has also been reported. Will a commis- Is France’s role not a strange one, which or the classic “sovereignty”, the Indians sion of historians be to wonder fifty years requires explanation? In the secret war make an easy choice. (For foreign read- later, why no one in our country interpret- against Syria and its allies Paris has been ers: The former German federal minister ed the signs of the times correctly? Incom- responsible for the deaths of at least 3,000 of finance Steinbrück labeled the Swiss In- petence or 5th column? Either way, we will Syrian soldiers and 1,500 civilians, the dians, against whom he was going to make have to take the consequences. economic losses and sabotage against ride the 6th Cavalry from Fort Yuma. He Instead of scrapping our recently mod- pipelines, etc. not included. Why and to thus gave evidence of both his trans-At- ernized armored personnel carriers, we what purpose or by what interest does our lantic connectivity as well as his political have to demand of ourselves and of those neighboring country fight at the forefront attitude and, by the way, helped the Swiss in Berne to show more backbone and in Syria? Why does it support an “Islam- population to close ranks.). thinking ahead. (Federal Councilor Mau- ic Emirate of Baba Amr”, proclaimed by But back to the French: We may prob- rer included). Let’s start? • the rebels? Not long ago, the Navy Seals ably once get to know, how expensive the caught the evil bin Laden in Abottabat, exchange of agents was this time, but in and drowned him in the sea from an air- our country, we also have strange trails craft carrier. Has al-Qaeda suddenly mu- that lead to France. When our federal tated from the evil enemy into the good government recently decided to purchase guy? Or is the emirate simply a conces- Swedish Gripen fighter planes instead of sion to the sponsor, the Saudis and Qataris French Raffalle planes, a roar was raised, Current Concerns (as France has actually no money to wage accompanied by some media; anonymous The international journal for independent war)? Even the war against Libya was set letters of most embarrassing content were thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, off in Paris (together with London) and spread which smelled of the French style and for the promotion and respect French pilots began with their bombard- and raised unsubstantiated allegations of of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law ment. corruption against the provision authori- This is all not about the civilian popu- ty. Even when Switzerland refrained from Publisher: Zeit-Fragen Cooperative lation, neither in Syria nor in Libya. Un- the purchase of a French fighter aircraft Editor: Erika Vögeli fortunately, this is only the “spin”. The later in the 1980s and bought the Tiger Address: Current Concerns, soapy UN concept “Responsibility to Pro- instead – which will now be replaced by P.O. Box, CH-8044 Zurich tect” is a pretext, so that the West has a the Gripen – the French proved to be bad, Phone: +41 (0)44 350 65 50 better chance to interfere. The pattern is gadfly-like losers. Even today the former Fax: +41 (0)44 350 65 51 clear: the rebels are given French Milan E-Mail: [email protected] missiles due to which the Syrian tanks Subscription details: published regularly electronically as PDF file cannot advance and so the Milan bases in KLA commander Homs have to be eliminated by artillery. Annual subscription rate of SFr. 40,-, € 30,-, £ 25,-, $ 40,- Civilian casualties could not be excluded. must leave for the following countries: This was the occasion on which the Secu- Switzerland Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, rity Council was asked to pass a resolution Cyprus, , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hongkong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, that finally should have made an interven- The Kosovo member of parliament Japan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Nether- tion in Libya from the outside possible and former commander of the Kosovo lands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, “to protect the civilian population”. The Liberation Army (KLA), Azem Syla, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab ­Emirates, point is not that complicated, it is actually must leave Switzerland according to a United Kingdom, USA rather transparent. You force the Syrians judgement passed by the Administra- Annual subscription rate of SFr. 20,-, € 15,-, £ 12,50, $ 20,- into a situation where they need to fight tive Court of the Canton of Solothurn. for all other countries. in built-up areas; and the civilian popula- Moreover a lawsuit against him is pen- Account: Postscheck-Konto: PC 87-644472-4 tion, which inevitably has to suffer losses, dant because of 426,000 francs supple- The editors reserve the right to shorten letters to serves as a pretext to intervene. mentary benefits, which were received the editor. Letters to the editor do not necessarily But wait, please pause for thought: unlawfully. reflect the views and opinions of Current Concerns.

Why is the civilian population in Beng- Source: sda © 2011. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or hazi and Homs worth such a resolution? (Translation Current Concerns) transmission of this publication may be made without written Why were the Afghans, Iraqis and Kurds, permission. No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 4

At least protect Destruction plan for 350 armoured infantry the airspace fighting vehicle, combat value increased Officers threaten me. As it has come to our attention there The infantry fighting vehicle is a plan to scrap the amount of 350, sev- weighs about 11,000 kg. One half of to launch a eral times combat value increased ar- that, about 5,500 kg are aluminum. moured infantry fighting vehicles M113 The aluminum price is just under CHF people’s initiative 63/89 at two locations (in Emmen (Lu- 2,000 per ton. Therefore you receive a cerne LU) and Ecublens (Vaud VD)) start- maximum of CHF 10,000,00 per tank. The Swiss Officers’ Association (SOG) ing in January 2012, presently they are In the current version, it costs CHF views the higher military budget and the hidden in old aircraft-tunnels near Raron 430000,00. and Turtmann (Valais, VS). Just a few Calculate: 350 units times CHF new fighter jets at risk. According to a years ago this version infantry fighting 430,000 unit price that amounts to CHF media report the association is now tak- vehicle has received an advanced new ar- 150 million. The Federal Department ing the offensive “for a reliable army”. mour and the most powerful turbo diesel of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports that was ever installed in an M113 world- (DDPS) will therefore destroy 150 mil- The Swiss Officers’ Association (SOG) wide, which gives it rapid acceleration lion and receives about 4.1 million for expresses its opinion in the debate on and maneuverability. Also it possesses the aluminum melt. By the way: the re- fighter jets, military budgets and cost-cut- a 20mm gun for self-defense. The vehi- placement value, if new armored fight- ting programs. If a referendum against cles speed outrageously and are almost ing vehicle have to be procured, is at the 750 million cost-cutting program was as fast as the Leopard main battle tank. least 5 to 10 times higher, that means submitted, a negative impact on the Army The scrapping order was issued to: more than one billion francs! Gotthard Schnyder AG, Emmen and Indeed, it cannot be that Defense budget and the acquisition of the new Thevenaz-Leduc, Ecublens VD. Every Minister Maurer and Chief of the Gripen fighter jet could be the result. The month, around 30 pieces M113 armored Armed Forces Blattmann want new SOG will not stand by and watch such a infantry fighting vehicle, will be turned Gripen fighters, but destroy military development. For this reason it is consid- into scrap. According to our sources the equipment ready for use worth 150 mil- ers to launch a people‘s initiative. vehicles are in very good condition and lion against the will of the people on “We are ready to go to the people,” ready for use. the other hand. says Denis Froidevaux, brigardier and vice president of the Officers’ Associa- tion, in an interview with “Tribune de Geneve” and “24 Heures”. According to Froidevaux the SOG has worked on an in- itiative called “For a reliable army” since last summer. The initiative text is nearly completed, the corresponding initiative could be launched quickly. Army with 100,000 men and new fighter jets What is the initiative about? The Of- ficers’ Association doesn’t want to make details public yet. In the inter- view Froidevaux recalls last year’s Fed- eral Assembly’s mandate to the Federal Council to raise the Army’s annual ex- penditure ceiling to five billion francs M113-tanks loaded for transport. (picture Group Giardino) in 2014. So far, the expenditure ceil- ing had been 4.4 billion. The purpose of this money should be the financing of a Youtube: Drive to scrapping 100,000 men army including new fighter jets. The modernization of the Swiss army On Youtube you can see how the second tranche of the armoured infantry fight- should not be put at risk, unfortunate- ing vehicle drives in the scrap yard. They demonstrate fitness, appear new, emit a ly this would happen with regard to the robust sound of their powerful new turbo diesel engines, and you see how much fun the drivers of these armored Ferraris have. There are several videos. new cost-cutting program from 2014 on. For many years the SOG has held the po- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ntiDPzzBE&feature=related sition that the Swiss army is underfund- ed. At the same time a coherent securi- ty policy is lacking. It cannot be that new tasks are assigned to the army all the time regarded as a threat. Rather, the Swiss Vice President is convinced that the offi- without providing additional funds. This people should get the chance to decide on cers’ initiative would meet with a positive is disrespectful towards the citizen-sol- the fundamental question, what kind of echo when launched. Froidevaux assumes dier, says Froidevaux. army they want – and what funding this that the army still enjoys great sympathy Army should receive. Froidevaux stress- and support among the population. • Fundamental question: What kind of es that the geopolitical situation isn’t sta- army do the people want? ble. Not least the economic and financial Source: Basler Zeitung from 23 February 2012 The Officers’ Association does not want problems in Europe bear severe security the initiative “For a reliable army” to be risks, for Switzerland as well. The SOG (Translation Current Concerns) No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 5 “Foreign imposed ‘Regime-Change’ violates the UN Charter in letter and spirit” “Actions outside the Security Council would be illegal interventions and constituted crimes against peace or else aggressive acts, and those who decide on them would have to be brought to justice accordingly” Interview with Professor Dr phil. et iur. Alfred de Zayas

thk. Syria was ly against meaning and spirit of the UN tion of the willing» in Iraq in 2003 would the dominant Charter. prove much more difficult today. topic during The Libya resolution was meant to pro- the first days of tect the Libyan civilian population; how- What is the task then of the UN in this sit- the UN Human ever it was interpreted in a completely dif- uation? Rights Coun- ferent way. The resolution was abused as a The UN functions as a moderator for di- cil session. Al- pretext to wage war and to overthrow the alogue. We have all bodies for a reason- ready on the government. This is a turning point. The able and peaceful settlement of differ- second day of Russians and Chinese drew their conse- ences between states, such as the Human the spring ses- quences from this. If one intends to in- Rights Council in Geneva, the Security sion the West- terfere in a civil war in order to protect Council and the General Assembly in the ern states the civilian population, this can be debat- USA. These are all arenas where differ- Alfred de Zayas urged for a ed. But this resolution was abused; there- ences between states may be articulated (picture thk) special meet- fore China and Russia won’t put up with without engaging in violence. Article II ing to deal with the events in Syria. The it any longer. para 4 of the UN charter is a legal prop- extremely biased media reports about osition; it rules that the use of violence is the situation in Syria were mirrored by Is it fair to say that the veto of Russians prohibited, even the threat or aggressive the statements of several countries. Sim- and Chinese strengthened international gesture. ilar to their unambiguous position in the law? Security Council Russia and China took Absolutely. There was a real threat here At the moment it is not only Syria, where a clear stance inspired by international for the principle of non-intervention, the we have an escalation... law, bringing reason to this emotional de- principle of non-violence. To break down. If I look at Syria, the situation in Iran wor- bate that way. Obviously the West aims It is also a vote for legal security. If reso- ries me even more. Whether Iran aims for for another «Regime-Change» following lutions get abused as in the case of Libya, the atomic bomb or not, is something we the Libyan recipe and human rights vio- one has to make it very clear to those re- cannot tell any better than the Interna- lations are meant to provide justification sponsible for the abuse that it is unaccep- tional Atomic Energy Agency. Of course for an intervention. In the following inter- table, that it will not happen again. Should we would like to prevent the proliferation view, US-American international law ex- they wish to act outside the UN this would of nuclear weapons, which is exactly why pert Professor Alfred de Zayas judges the constitute a crime. It is a crime as defined the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was situation in the Near East from the view- by the ICC statute member states accord- introduced. point of international law and also talks ing to Article 5 of the International Crim- about the war preparations against Iran. inal Court. If it had taken place outside What was the objective behind it? the Security Council, it would immediate- According to Article 6 of the NPT, this Zeit-Fragen: Some countries especial- ly have been regarded as a crime and ag- is quite explicit: nuclear disarmament. ly from the West, keep issuing statements gressive act, and those who decided upon Total disarmament of all nuclear states. about Syria at the Human Rights Coun- this would have to be brought to justice That is the USA, France, Britain, Rus- cil here in Geneva. As it seems, the West accordingly. sia and China. Considering that a num- is urging for a mandate to militarily in- ber of nuclear states who possess nuclear tervene like in Libya. How should we see In this line of argument any interven- weapons have never signed the Non-pro- that from a standpoint of international tion bypassing the UN is definitely a war liferation Treaty, namely India, Pakistan law? crime? and Israel, one should not get hysterical Professor de Zayas: When we are talking The question is, whether NATO would about the possibility of Iran perhaps one about Syria, we should bear in mind why dare to intervene in Syria without reso- day owning nuclear weapons, too. Even the United Nations were founded in the lution of the Security Council the same if Iran had them, they could never use first place. We learn from the preamble way as they did in the case of Yugoslavia. them. As soon as Iran would use a nucle- that the objective of the UN is to save suc- Syria is in geographical proximity to Rus- ar bomb, it would face total annihilation. ceeding generations from the scourge of sia and Russia will not put up with that. It The Iranian government knows that very war, to protect people from conflicts and is well-known that the Russians will take well. It is the same what we have already to solve conflicts peacefully. The princi- certain protective measures in such a sit- known in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the ples and aims are made very clear in the uation. NATO has to think very carefully possible nuclear destruction. The ques- UN Charter. This includes the policy of how this could escalate. At the time of the tion, whether Iran has an atomic bomb non-intervention. But what was at stake NATO intervention in Serbia, Russia was or not, should not drive the world com- here was a conversion, a revolution, a cor- relatively weak. The reemergence of the munity into hysteria. There are already ruption of the United Nations. The trans- Russians was still to come. I believe it is thousands of atomic weapons around formation of an organization of peace, a a totally different situation today as com- in the established nuclear states, and peace-promoting and peace-keeping or- pared with the year 1999; it is not so easy those weapons are not getting used. Why ganization into an organization engag- any more to intervene. The intervention of should one expect Iran to start a nucle- ing in «Regime-Change» this is total- NATO or rather of the so-called «coali- continued on page 6 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 6

How could these tensions be solved? been undermined. It is a matter of argu- ”Foreign imposef ‘Regime change’ …” A real disarmament of the region should ment, but it has never been a casus belli or continued from page 5 be the priority. Basically, disarmament of a reason to provoke a quarrel or preemp- ar war? Actually, this would be quite ob- the world would be desirable. Let us begin tive war. It should also be mentioned that vious for any reasonable politician and with the Near East. If we achieved a nu- the UN Charter concerning Article 51 is hardly comprehensible. clear disarmament and a conventional one very clear: The right to self-defense ex- in the Near East, this would be a brave act. ists, but there is no pre-emptive right to Is that not further warmongering? Israel would also join in because there is do so. I cannot say that Iran poses a po- A cool analysis of the situation in Iran no international law at leisure, there is no tential threat, ergo you may attack Iran. It is one thing, another one is the agitation sideway which is open to one state, but not applies only when a country has been at- against Iran which can be read anywhere for the other. tacked and had no time to address the Se- in the media today. Taking into account curity Council in order to get the UN in- that this kind of war propaganda is actu- This would mean to comply with the Non- volved directly; only in this case you have ally prohibited by Article 20 of the UN proliferation Treaty? the right to immediate counter-measures, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, This is clearly the disarmament, as stip- i.e. war, until the Security Council has it is striking to note, that the press in the ulated in Article 6 of the Treaty. This become involved. The very moment, in USA, in Great Britain and partially also means that all states possessing nuclear which the Security Council takes over, in Germany is doing just that – engaging weapons undertake to disarm. They have defensive measures have to stop. That is, in war propaganda against Iran, using lies, not done so far. This violation of the NPT what Article 51 of the UN Charter means. half-information emotionalizations among is a much more blatant violation on the It is not to be understood as a lex spe- other things, which cannot really stand up side of the nuclear powers than on the cialis that discards or replaces everything to serious scrutiny. Nevertheless an atmos- side of Iran. According to Article 3 of else. It represents a very limited possibili- phere is created in the USA by constant- the treaty, Iran has been given the right to ty under very restricted conditions. If not, ly repeated messages via FOX News and peaceful use of nuclear energy and even it is a crime against peace as defined by CNN, programming peoples’ minds into the right to international assistance in the Nuremberg Verdict and as described thinking that Iran poses the greatest threat order to achieve the peaceful use of nu- in Article 5 of the ICC Statute. • to world peace. I think this can easily be clear power. It is just a matter relating pushed aside. It is what we in the USA call to Article 4, if the IAEA inspections are a «red herring», a method to fool people. thorough, or whether the inspections have (Translation: Current Concerns)

“Strengthening of law supremacy” cc. In the debate at the Human Rights them, they try to dictate the objectives of through national dialogue and social con- Council on the general question of the human rights monitoring on the selec- sensus on the ways of the urgent reforms, human rights, the Deputy Minister for tive basis at their own convenience and ac- shall be an imperative. If we support the Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federa- cording to their own political views. We right of nations to self-determination and tion, Gennady M. Gatilov, expressed his are sure that the human rights cannot be choice of their own way of development, condemnation of the West’s intention to farmed out. This work shall be carried out external forces shall accept such choice undermine Syria’s right to self-determi- on the constructive and collective basis, and avoid interfering in the national dia- nation and the principle of not-interven- which is favourable to all countries. logue and election campaign. tion in the affairs of a sovereign state in Mrs Chairwoman, the recent events in Russia is decisively against any violence the name of human rights. the Middle East and North Africa have in regard to civilians, but it is no less de- proved the inseparable interrelation of cisively against any external force inter- At the same time we cannot agree with the the three fundamental principles of the ference in support to one of the parties attempts to transform the Council into an modern world order – development, of internal conflicts. Violation of human instrument of political pressure, to divide peace and safety, and human rights. Now- rights shall not be left unpunished, al- the states into ‘bad’ and ‘good’, ‘pupils’ adays it is more than ever obvious that though the situation when the acts per- and “examiners’, to dissolve the intergov- observance of human rights is impossi- formed under the pretence of defence of ernmental nature of the leading UN body ble without peace and development. And human rights lead to mass violations but for human rights. We cannot in general be stable international peace can be reached in this case from another side, including satisfied with the ways of using the issues only on collective basis by strengthening death of hundreds of civilians, is inad- of human rights in the international con- of law supremacy in international affairs. missible. text. A number of countries tend to usurp The idea that the problems are to be Source: Excerpt from the Statement of G.M. Ga- the human rights record, to politicize and solved by the nations themselves, with- tilov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rus- use it as a pressure instrument. They do out external pressure and interference, sia, in High Level Segment of 19th Session of UN Council for Human Rights, Geneva, 29 Febru- not tolerate any criticism addressed to in peaceful ways and within legal limits, ary 2012. No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 7

Leipzig - city of books by Walter Mayer, Karlsruhe/Germany Every year in mid-March, the Leipzig imperial trade fair privilege. This privilege the sale, the commission and the exchange book fair takes place in Leipzig. As first was confirmed in 1507. Furthermore the of books; the contracts between printers, book fair of the year it provides impor- Emperor gave the stack privilege, which bookbinders, paper merchants and pub- tant stimuli for the book market with the meant that, within the precincts of 115 lishers; billing and payment as well as the presentation of the forthcoming books of km, no fairs were allowed to be held and coordination and the exchange of profes- springtime. Today it is primarily a public no goods could be stored outside the city. sional work. fair whose foremost aim is to provide au- In the course of the centuries Leipzig The bookseller cantata, later the Book thors and visitors with the chance to meet. has developed into an international fair Fair, achieved importance as an independ- This is also supported by the reading festi- location. Leipzig owes its development as ent event. It was a show within a show or val “Leipzig liest” (Leipzig reads) which the city of books to its trade. changed from a fair with bookstores to the offers more than 2,000 events on more book fair. than 350 sites at the trade fair grounds Art of book printing th and throughout the entire city where the since the 16 century In 1650 the first daily newspaper Leipzig citizens and many young people Even before the invention of book print- in the world was published can directly get into contact with the au- ing, handwritten books were brought As early as 1643 the Leipzig printer and thors and which makes it the biggest read- in large barrels to the fair. The first sin- bookseller Timotheus Ritzsch printed and ing festival of its kind in Europe. gle sheet prints of the 1450s still were a distributed a newspaper that was pub- In the former Graphic Quarter the fair sensation; only a decade later printed lished four times a week. From 1 July Buch­gewerbehaus (book trade building) books were mentioned as exhibits. Until 1650 he had his newspaper published six with its oriels was considered a land- about the end of the 15th century predom- times a week – so it is regarded as the first mark of the book metropolis Leipzig. The inantly itinerant book printers and trad- daily newspaper in the world – and he House of Books, opened for the first time ers brought their publications to the city. called it Incoming Newspapers. “News- in 1996 to the citizens of Leipzig, stands The first book printed in Leipzig was pub- papers” in the former usage corresponded on historical ground and has become a lished in 1481. It was Johannes Annius’ to messages or news. Each issue had four meeting place for book lovers and book- “Glosa Super Apocalypsim de Statu Ec- pages; the circulation might have amount- makers; literary events take place there clesiae” (The future victories of the Chris- ed to 200 copies. The paper was typeset in almost every day. It stands on the site of tians over the Turks and Saracens), print- metal letters, printed by hand on a wood- the former booksellers’ house which was ed by Marcus Brandis. Books spread en printing press. Ten years later as a con- erected in 1888 in the magnificent neo-re- widely. tinuation Ritzsch then issued the New In- naissance style. In 1990 during the nego- By 1500 there were already six print- coming News of War and World affairs, tiations for a merger of the booksellers’ ing houses in the city, which especially printed by him as well. associations in Leipzig and in Frankfurt- printed books for the city council and the The scholars’ journal Acta eruditorum on-Main, people remembered and revital- clergy. Unit 1530, about 1300 book titles (Latin: reports, deeds of scholars) edit- ized the old Leipzig tradition by building had been published, including prints of li- ed in monthly magazines by the scholar this house on historical ground. turgical, theological, philosophical, legal Otto Mencke in the year 1682, published and mathematical works, first editions of in Latin extracts from new publications, Leipzig developed into the classics and works on the Reforma- reviews, independent smaller essays and an international trade fair location tion. The first printing house in Leipzig, notes. Due to Mencke’s extensive corre- Leipzig can look back on a more than 500 also producer of the most beautiful, ar- spondence, scientists of international rep- year old tradition as a production and trad- tistically and technically high-level print- utation were won over to write reviews for ing place for books, as well as a place of ings of the time, was founded by Valentin the paper; excerpts from new works, in- traditional book culture and literature Bapst in 1541. In 1559 under his succes- dependent smaller essays and notes were promoting. sor Ernst Vögelin the company succeeded added. The Acta eruditorum initially had After the award of the city rights and to become the largest print shop in eastern an average extent of two to three pages. the market privileges around the year 1165 Germany with six presses, a type foundry, They were published by the company by Otto the Rich, Margrave of Meissen, a scientific publishing house and a book- Grosse’s Erben (who also published the Leipzig developed into an important trad- store. In 1594 Henning Grosse published Leipzig and Frankfurt fair catalogs), the ing centre. the first catalog which listed all books publishers Johann Friedrich Gleditsch and Since 1165, after being awarded the published since 1564; in 1860 he aban- temporarily Thomas Fritsche in Leipzig. city and market rights, the oldest pre- doned its publication. The fair catalogs Their aim was to represent the German served city and parish church St Nikolai were published almost twice a year, usu- scholarship internationally. It was the first was built. She owes her name to Nicho- ally at Easter and Michaelmas, and were scientific journal in Germany. las, the patron saint of merchants. Leip- the first regularly published book trade di- Until the founding of the first book- zig’s tradition as a major trading centre in rectories. In 1632 the number of books binders’ guild in 1545, the printers’ guild Central Europe with one of the oldest fairs presented in Leipzig exceeded those from in 1595, there had already been fourteen in the world dates back to 1190, when the Frankfurt-on-Main for the first time. bookstores. Around 1700, 276 works had Easter and Michaelis markets were con- been published and printed, the fair cat- firmed. Since 1218 the first documented Independent book fair alogs became more and more extensive, merchants and craftsmen have settled in The book fair, where publications from while the Frankfurt catalogs became thin- Leipzig. In 1341 the clothiers bought their all parts of Europe were traded, devel- ner until they finally disappeared in 1749. own building on the Leipzig market, the oped together with the general trade fairs Around 1800, about 1600 works were first “Gewandhaus” (Garment House). In during the second half of the 16th century annually published in Leipzig, with the 1497 the Roman-German king and future and became independent in Modern Age Emperor Maximilian I gave Leipzig the during the 17th Century. Its tasks included continued on page 8 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 8

”Leipzig – city of books” house of Heinrich Wilhelm Hahn in Leip- institutes and printing companies. Leipzig continued from page 7 zig in 1826. was terminal and staple market of almost On the Swiss publisher Salomon Hir- the entire German book trade: Ordering number doubling during the next hundred zel’s initiative the brothers Jacob and Wil- is only to be done in Leipzig. Nearly every years. Leipzig attracted the book trade and helm Grimm began their work on the larg- tenth inhabitant of Leipzig was active in flourished as a book printer and publish- est and most comprehensive dictionary of these industrial trades. Leipzig became fa- ing place. the German language with altogether 33 mous as “city of books”, even abroad. It volumes in 1838: Das Deutsche Wörterbu- had its high phase at the end of the 19th Establishment of ch (German Dictionary) or “the Grimm” and the beginning of the 20th century. the Booksellers Association was also published in Leipzig. It was a Leipzig held the leading position as book In his essay “Thoughts on the book trade classical reference dictionary, which de- metropolis until 1945. and its deficiencies” the publisher Georg scribed the origin and use of each German Already in 1848 the publisher Heinrich Joachim Göschen wrote in 1802 that the word and also contained abusive expres- Wilhelm Hahn from Leipzig suggested the first place among the merchants was due sions and vulgar words of a period from foundation of a German National Library. to the booksellers, because they dealt 500 years ago to the present. Its aim was In a letter to the Frankfurt parliament, the with the most precious commodities. He that every commoner could make sure of Frankfurt St Paul’s-Church Assembly, he called for a booksellers association in the national commonalities in the German asked for permission to donate “the writ- order to organize the annual accounts. language. In 1854 the first volume was ings of historical, political, statistical, war- The German Publishers and Booksell- published; the last volume in 1960. The scientific and legal contents, among them ers Association (most commonly called German Publishers and Booksellers Asso- also the Monumenta [Germaniae Histori- “Börsenverein”) – founded in 1825 in Leipzig by 99 companies – got its name from the Booksellers’ Exchange found- ed in Leipzig in 1792. The participation of Leipzig Companies in the founding of the Börsenverein was initially relative- ly low; it was only when Prussia threat- ened to shift the book fair to Berlin that this threat promoted cooperation with the booksellers. The Börsenverein served as centralized association of independent German booksellers, introduced strict rules for the commerce of the booksell- ers among themselves and with the pub- lic and took care of education and train- ing of the booksellers. In 1834 it founded the Börsenblatt. As from 1835 on, it was owned by the Börsenverein and was then called “Official Gazette of the Book- sellers Association”. At first it was pub- lished weekly, since 1866 daily (except Sundays), consisting of advertisements, Leipzig 1943. “In the hail of bombs the Graphic Quarter was almost completely de- an editorial section and the bibliography stroyed; 1,000 enterprises and 50 million books were lost to the Leipzig book trade.” Published News of the German Book (picture ma) Trade, indicating new books and mag- azines. After the division of Germany, ciation (Börsenverein) initiated further de- ca] to establish a reference library.” Other there was a Leipzig and a Frankfurt edi- velopments in the area of bookselling and publishers followed, and the president tion of the financial newspaper. Since the trade. During the 19th century Leipzig has of the National Assembly Heinrich von unification of the Leipzig and the Frank- established itself as central interface and Gagern announced thereupon the idea of a furt Börsenverein in 1991 only one finan- hub of the German book trade. German National Library, which was real- cial newspaper per week is published. ized in 1912. A government-owned library The Leipzig count of volumes was ac- Leipzig held the leading position was not possible due to the federal struc- cepted, because Leipzig could hark back as book metropolis until 1945 tures of the German Reich. to a longer tradition. In the search for larger warehouse spaces and premises and because factories were The city of Leipzig – center of the Collections of encyclopedic knowledge not allowed in town centers for environ- bookselling and publishing trade The city played an important role for Ger- mental protection reasons, the book trad- The strong growth of German book man encyclopedias. For decades, the city ing enterprises migrated and expanded production at the beginning of the hosted the publishing houses of the two into the eastern suburb, into the Graphic 20th century made the establishment most important German encyclopedias, Quarter. Approximately 1,500 manufac- of a Central Library of German litera- F.A. Brockhaus and Meyers Bibliogra- turing and trading companies, the poly­ ture, including the bibliography of pub- phisches Institut. graphic industry and the central branch lished literature, an important goal of the The first comprehensive collection of federations resided there. Among these Börsenverein. The second dean of the as- historic sources for German history, the publishing houses are famous names like sociation, Erich Ehlermann, finally wrote Monumenta Germaniae Historica, found- Teubner, Seemann, C. F. Peter, Reclam, a memorandum on “A German Nation- ed at the instance of Baron von Stein in Insel and also the large companies of the al Library in Leipzig” in 1910, which 1819, was published in the publishing intermediate book trade, mechanical engi- continued on page 9 neering companies, bookbinders, graphic No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 9

of and pattern books for industrial paper ”Leipzig – city of books” chitectural Exhibition had taken place continued from page 8 one year before. The exhibition was or- manufacturing, multicolored papers, ar- ganized by the book traders association chive material and documents of the histo- located in Leipzig. The painter and art- ry of books and in particularly of the book included his conceptions of the estab- ist Max Seliger is considered its found- trade, tools and machines to manufactur- lishment, the mission and goals of a Na- er. Crucial impulses came from the asso- ing of books, paper and type setting. In tional Library and emphasized its practi- ciation of German Book Artisans, which 1914 the museum took over important ex- cal implementation. Ehlermann informed had been founded in the Royal Acade- hibits of the “Bugra”. Since 1950 the mu- the executive committee of the associa- my for Graphic Arts and Book Trades in seum has been a department of the Ger- tion about his preliminary talks with the 1909. Meritorious personalities should man Library Leipzig and from 2006 of the official authorities. The city of Leipzig, have been awarded with a diploma and German National Library. The permanent center of the bookselling and publish- a bronze medal created by Max Klinger exhibition “Merkur and the books – Leip- ing in the German Reich, the Kingdom for the preparation and execution of the zig as a city of books for 500 years” re- of Saxonia and the Börsenverein agreed exhibition which was, however, inhibited minds of the tradition of Leipzig (1497- on a contract about the establishment of by the outbreak of the First Word War on 1997) as a trading and manufacture site of the German Library located in Leipzig 1 August 1914. books as well as a place of book tradition on 3 October 1912. The German Library The German Book and Writing Muse- and the teaching of literature. should collect and completely file the na- um is considered to be the oldest and the tional literature starting from 1913 on- most important specialized museum of Despite heavy damage in the war: wards and work as archives of the Ger- his kind worldwide based on the amount Leipzig remains ‘city of books’. man-language literature. Its mission was and character of its inventory. It was lo- On 4 December 1943 Leipzig experi- to collect the entire literature in Ger- cated first in the booksellers stock ex- enced the heaviest bomb attack of the man and in foreign languages that had change, starting from 1888 in the book- Second World War lasting for about one been published in Germany from 1 Janu- sellers house and from 1900 onward in hour. Royal Air Force carried out the at- ary 1913. Moreover, foreign literature in the book trade building. As a basic stock tack under the code name Haddock. An- German should be collected, registered in it contains the inventory of the book trade other attack took place on 7 July 1944 by a national bibliography and made avail- museum founded in 1884 by the “Central the US Air Force. In the hail of bombs able for everyone free of charge. The Association for the Entire Book Trade”, the Graphic Quarter was almost com- books are available for use within the li- from which it originated in 1917. Its mis- pletely destroyed; 1,000 enterprises and brary only, since the German library is a sion was to serve as archives for the book 50 million books were lost to the Leip- reference library. The German publishers culture in Germany; it dedicated itself to zig book trade. It was the end of an era in commit themselves to deliver a reference the collection, maintenance, development, which Leipzig had naturally been seen as copy of each new publication to the Ger- presentation and conveyance of valuable the center of the German book trade. The man library. Until 1945 it was the most evidence of the tradition of books, writ- ‘city of books’ Leipzig never recovered important collection of printing products ing and paper production. The focal points entirely from this blow; however Leipzig in German language. of the collection were among others print- continues its tradition as ‘city of books’ by From May to October 1914 the Inter- ings from the 15th up to the 19th century, hosting the German National Library, the national Exhibition for Book Trades and international examples of the book art of University of Graphics and Book-Art with Graphics (Bugra) took place on the fair- the 20th century, art books, specimen sig- the annual organization of the Book Fair ground, on which the International Ar- natures, vat watermarked papers, samples and the unique reading events. •

Current Concerns The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law Subscribe to Current Concerns – The journal of an independent cooperative The cooperative Zeit-Fragen is a politically and financially independent organisation. All of its mem­bers work on a voluntary and honorary basis. The journal does not accept commercial advertisements of any kind and receives no financial support from business organisations. The journal Current Concerns is financed exclusively by its subscribers. We warmly recommend our model of free and independent press coverage to other journals. Annual subscription rate of CHF 40,-; Euro 30,-; USD 40,-; GBP 25,- for the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hongkong, Iceland, Ireland, Is- rael, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Swit- zerland, United Arab ­Emirates, United Kingdom, USA Annual subscription rate of CHF 20,-; Euro 15,-; USD 20,-; GBP 12,50 for all other countries. Please choose one of the following ways of payment: - send a cheque to Current Concerns, P. O. Box, CH-8044 Zurich, or - send us your credit card details (only Visa), or - pay into one of the following accounts: CH: Postscheck-Konto (CHF): 87-644472-4 IBAN CH91 0900 0000 8764 4472 4 BIC POFICHBEXXX CH: Postscheck-Konto (Euro): 91-738798-6 IBAN CH83 0900 0000 9173 8798 6 BIC POFICHBEXXX D: Volksbank Tübingen, Kto. 67 517 005, BLZ 64190110 IBAN DE12 6419 0110 0067 5170 05 BIC GENODES1TUE A: Raiffeisen Landesbank, Kto. 1-05.713.599, BLZ 37000 IBAN AT55 3700 0001 0571 3599 BIC RVVGAT2B No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 10 The cooperative principle as the basis of Swiss political culture – past and present by Dr phil René Roca

The cooperatives in their various forms ethischen Geschichtsauffassung” (Com- of the country supported this develop- provide an essential foundation for the munal Freedom as a Rescue of Europe. ment. The regulations along borders and Swiss federal state. As economic self- Outlines of an ethical conception of his- roads as well as agreements were neces- help organizations cooperatives are based tory) Gasser explains that it is the cooper- sary to cope with the joint work. on the personal concept of man. Cooper- ative organizing principle which leads to Both explanations are important and atives should not merely be considered as community ethics: deserve attention when exploring the or- a form of organization but in a broader “Whereas in an authoritarian-bureau- igin and development of the cooperative sense as an important form of society. A cratic state, politics and morality always principle in the European Middle Ages. cooperative is supported by a communi- base on different levels, they are insepa- These early roots of the cooperative sys- ty that raises the highest ethical demands rable in a social-communal state. Accord- tem are essential for the understanding to respective tasks and that assumes much ingly, it is the cooperative organizing prin- of the Swiss political system. The histo- responsibility as the owner of a common ciple, as it is the foundation of the bottom rian Professor Dr Wolfgang von Wartburg cause. The total property, which must up community, which can be called ‘com- writes: be protected, belongs to the association munal community ethics’.” “These small, natural, self-governing of people and the individual cooperative In Switzerland this cooperative princi- communities have been fertile ground and members. The functioning of a cooper- ple has not only been applied since 1848, seminary of Swiss freedom and democra- ative is guided by strict rules. These are but even before it had been an integral part cy and they still are today. The most ex- monitored and in case of violations the of the federal ethos for centuries. This can tensive and most viable Mark cooperatives community is supposed to impose sanc- be shown by a look at history. could however be found in the mountains, tions. The cooperative is always locally where the joint Alp and cattle farming en- based and often embedded in a federal- The origin and history of compassed entire valleys.”1 subsidiary political system. Cooperative the cooperative principle members democratically decide on every The cooperative principle itself is proba- Development of the cooperative question, everyone has a one vote. bly as old as mankind, but it lacks written principle in the Middle Ages The purpose of a cooperative is that sources. Even for Late Antiquity and the and the Early Modern Age all the members of such an association Early Middle Ages, the sources are sparse. In Switzerland, the Allmend, i.e. the com- have the optimal benefit of their common But a look at the ensuing written sources mon grounds or commons, were central cause. Utilization can vary but the purpose and the knowledge about man’s social na- to the spreading and development of the must always serve the Bonum Commune, ture reveal that cooperative forms of or- cooperatives. These areas were used for the common good anchored in natural law. ganization were prevailing at that time. pasture, as forest and desert ground and The well-known Swiss historian Pro- Most of the cooperatives developed from they were open to everyone. To establish fessor Dr Adolf Gasser has highlighted the the medieval cadastral constitution or in their commons, the inhabitants of a vil- importance of the economic co-operative other words, they emerged from the “me- lage association – of one or more villages, principle in a very clear and plausible way. dieval common Mark”. hamlets or groups of farms – designated a According to his findings, the history of One theory is that the free Mark coop- specific area for collective economic use. Europe was characterized and shaped by eratives date back to the conquest of the A peasant family’s work was thus divided the strong contrast of two different ethi- Germanic peoples at that time. The land into three parts: Besides the agricultural cal principles, namely domination and co- acquisition was done by clans, called land and the residential area with gardens operative. In this manifestation, Gasser ‘groups of a hundred’, assigned to them and homesteads the commons represent- states, two worlds were facing each other by the prince in their areas. These areas ed a third zone, which was jointly worked. that were subject to very different laws of were just called “Mark(graviates)”, and Since the early Middle Ages the Europe- development: the world in which the po- their soil was cultivated cooperatively. an nobility had sought to restructure the litical system was established from above The communal and economic life within common lands constitution or at least in- and the other world in which the structures the clan was thus a free Mark cooperative. fluence it. In many places, including the developed from the bottom up, or in other The Frankish constitution and the feudal territory of modern Switzerland, the coop- words: the world of domination and the system have suppressed this early medi- erative principle could however be main- world of cooperative, the world of subor- eval order in many parts of Europe, ex- tained. Due to the diversity of local con- dination and the world of co-ordination, cept in some places, such as the pre-Al- ditions and human relations a variety of the world of centralism and the world of pine regions of today’s Switzerland. This forms of cooperatives have developed over communalism, the world of command and tradition has partly been kept alive until time. the world of self-government, the world of today on the existing common land coop- For Switzerland, the preconditions communal bondage and the world of com- eratives, alpine and forest cooperatives. of settlement history were particular- munal freedom: Another approach emphasizes that ly important. In the Swiss Central Pla- “The contrast between domination and the Mark cooperatives were only estab- teau, where the dwellings concentrated cooperative might be the most important lished in the high and late Middle Ages and became villages, the common Mark antithesis known in social history. This as a merger of existing rural cooperatives; or Allmend alongside with house, garden contrast of authoritarian state – state of or they were created by concentration of and fields was essential for all villagers. society is simply about very fundamental neighborhood associations. The residents Therefore, regulations on the use of the issues: namely about the elementary foun- wanted to regulate the use of the common commons and on the management of ar- dations of human social life.” Mark within a larger framework. The pop- able ground seemed necessary. Such land In his major work “Gemeindefreiheit ulation increase, the then prevailing three- als Rettung Europas. Grundlinien einer field system and the further development continued on page 11 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 11

es until the 18th century. The Alpine coop- dle Ages and in Early Modern Age the ”Swiss cooperative principle …” eratives that are numerous in the Alps and rural or valley cooperatives took over continued from page 10 the Jura are of great importance. Moreo- other tasks of common work besides their ver, along the rivers and streams the so- traditional ones. Such were the mainte- utilization systems had been in use since called ‘weir cooperatives’ developed. nance of roads and bridges or hydraulic the 10th century. A prerequisite for the use In hydraulic engineering the term ‘weir’ engineering, water supply, the building of of commons was often the long-term pos- means barrage. For the irrigation of lawns churches or even the duty to care for the session of a farm within the village dis- the so-called irrigation cooperatives devel- poor. Thus, the rural and valley coopera- trict. Newcomers had to buy this right oped, too. tives developed slowly into rural and val- and pay an entry fee. By establishing and The landlords and rulers repeatedly ley communities, the foundation of the fu- claiming definite rules the rural population tried to exert influence on the organization ture federal state. was often able to resolve their conflicts via of cooperatives, such as the Habsburgs in Wolfgang von Wartburg aptly writes neighborly agreements. The cities also Central Switzerland. The early Confedera- about this process: “The Swiss ideal of had a common Mark and enacted a simi- tion could however fend off such requests freedom has emerged from this human re- lar legislation. In the hilly Alpine foreland successfully. In the course of the 13th cen- ality, not from an abstract idea [...]. Thus, the farms united and formed so-called All- tury Uri and Schwyz were given charters the formation of the Swiss government mend cooperatives. In many places of the and they were even able to maintain this differs from all other state formations in Alps so-called valley cooperatives were imperial competence later on. It enabled Europe. It is not based on the desire for established – on the basis of the valley these valley cooperatives to freely dispose political unity, but rather on the desire to communities as rural associations – as for of their commons and use them without preserve the original character and free- example in Uri, Ursern, Schwyz, Glarus, any outside interference. On this basis, dom of the members, thereby helping to Entlebuch, in the Grisons, the Valais and the federal states and the Federal Char- maintain their diversity. Its unity is not the Ticino valleys. ter of 1291 developed. In Uri and Schw- created by a superior power or by uni- The commons were of fundamental im- yz the big valley cooperatives – the corpo- formity but by free cooperation in joint portance for the livestock until silage feed- rations Uri and Ursern in the canton Uri tasks.”3 ing in summer was introduced. In addition and the corporations Oberallmeind Unter- The comrades became citizens of the to the meadows and the stubble of the ara- allmeind in the canton Schwyz – have sur- village and the former village cooperatives ble land, farmers grazed the forest, in par- ticular with pigs. The forest also provided wood for construction and fireplaces. The Housing cooperatives in today’s Switzerland collection of fruit and berries or mush- mw. Even in the 21st century, hous- help to the compost team, parades for rooms complemented the people’s nutri- ing cooperatives still play an impor- children with lamps made of turnips, tion and secured them in case of crop fail- tant role in Switzerland. Primarily in excursions for seniors and the cooper- ure. The Allmend has always been a kind towns there are, according to the Sch- ative festivities. Once a year the coop- of land reserve the people could resort to weizerischer Verband für das Woh- erative assembly takes place, where the if necessary. From the 16th century onward nungswesen (SVW – Swiss coopera- associates, i.e. the tenants of the flats, the commons were divided and became tive housing federation) around 1,500 vote on legal issues – for example for separate property, but many also stayed housing cooperatives operate about the restoration of buildings or the con- 160,000 housing units which represent struction of a district heating – and intact until the rise of the Helvetic Repub- 5.1% of all housing units. In the city elect members to the cooperative bod- lic and beyond. and the canton of Zurich alone, there ies. Primarily in cities housing cooper- The Nobel Prize in Economy laure- are about 60,000 cooperative housing atives contribute fundamentally to so- ate Professor Dr Elinor Ostrom studied units. cial cohesion of the people, especially the basic “constitution of the commons” Housing cooperatives do not only in urban areas. in a comprehensive, world-wide study.2 rent flats; they also include several co- Source: www.mietbar.ch/index. Based on historical examples from dif- operative activities: from neighbourly cfm?&js=1 ferent continents, she revealed the impor- tance of the cooperative principle for the present. Based on the commons her study vived until today. The term “corporation” developed into public village communi- is a reminder of how people organize in emerged in the late Middle Ages and can ties. By the time this led to the develop- view of scarce natural resources, in order be equated with “cooperative”. ment of the so-called “Bürgergemeinde”4 to jointly solve complex problems. In her The Genossame has always been the (citizens’ communes) that are still in exist- comprehensive studies Elinor Ostrom con- highest authority of the cooperative. The ence in several cantons. cludes that cooperation of those directly meetings were chaired by a president who The Helvetic Republic of 1798 resulted affected is better than state control or pri- was elected as governor, beadle or Alp in the separation of residents’ communes vatization if they want good management master. The chairman had to take deci- and citizens’ communes. The division of of their local commons and their resourc- sions, carry out inspections and was re- the commons was intensified then. Some es. So she impressively appreciates the co- sponsible for administration and judiciary. commons were on lease or in private own- operative principle and clearly reveals its The common public work was completed ership, others were owned by residents’ importance for the economies of the 21st in the cooperative association. The rights communes, or corporations formed under century. and obligations were laid down in statutes private law. In the Middle Ages the commons and codes. The corporations and citizens’ com- formed an important foundation of social The cooperatives were of major po- munes in Switzerland are still an impor- interaction; their rules provided order and litical significance for the later develop- tant traditional good and establish human security for the geographical area we now ment of the Confederation. They devel- connections to a commune’s history and call Switzerland. Special types of cooper- oped a community-building spirit, without culture. In the canton of Grisons, for ex- atives that serve specific purposes devel- which a nation forged by the will of the ample, the old rural cooperatives are still oped in addition to the commons which people like Switzerland could never have could be found in all agricultural villag- emerged. Therefore, during the late Mid- continued on page 12 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 12

”Swiss cooperative principle …” of significant importance in the agricul- the housebuilding sector. One reason was continued from page 11 tural sector. that the public authorities intervened ex- tensively in the housing market for the alive in the residents’ communes, so these Production cooperatives first time and accepted housebuilding as a are also the owners of most of the com- During the industrial revolution produc- task of general public interest. Thus non- mons. In the central Swiss area around tion cooperatives were also established in profit housing cooperative came into the Bern the citizens’ communes as succes- Switzerland. Here, the cooperative mem- necessary money to realise own commu- sors of the original rural cooperatives own bers are not only owners but also em- nal building projects. the common property and manage it; this ployees of the cooperation. The idea of is also true for the canton of Valais. In the cooperative production was primarily de- Credit cooperatives north of the Alps and the Ticino, the cor- veloped by early socialist and social re- and savings cooperatives porations or corporate citizens’ communes form movements, who sought an answer Since the first quarter of the 19th century, are the owners and managers of the com- to the social issue. In this context, the savings and lending banks had been es- mons. Englishman Robert Owen with his coop- tablished in Switzerland in the course of erative model plays a pioneer role. Under industrialisation. Rural and urban home- Cooperative movement in the 19th the influence of the early French socialists workers and factory workers wanted to in- Century – the cooperative as a moral Charles Fourier and Louis Blanc the first vest their saved money and plan the pro- foundation of democracy production cooperatives were established visions for their old age. Communes and Without the tradition of the commons and in the 1840s, especially in the French part cantons often founded their own savings the described “cooperative spirit” in Swit- of Switzerland. Again, the cooperative ex- banks or promoted their development by zerland the foundation of the Confedera- plicitly stood in the tradition of cooper- providing guarantees and donating cap- tion in 1848 would never have taken place. ative self-help, as it had been important ital funds. In 1850 already 150 savings Adolf Gasser emphasizes that this Swiss in rural commons corporations or Alpine banks were existent in Switzerland which “cooperative spirit” always roots in the corporations. devoted themselves in particular to the small unit, i.e. in the small neat unit of mortgage business and then also to the the commune, whose origin goes back to Consumer Cooperatives granting of operating credits. As many the cooperative principle. Only in such a (Consumer associations) savings and lending banks risked their unit a vibrant co-operative autonomy can The consumer cooperatives became par- non-profit status over time, they lost im- develop. Adolf Gasser comments on that: ticularly important for the economy. of portance from 1860 on. Sensible alterna- “Large-scale political bodies of nation- The consumer cooperatives’ antecedents tives were the upcoming cantonal banks al character could only develop in a co- were the bread and fruit clubs, in which and the foundation of numerous coopera- operative spirit, if they emerged from an workers, craftsmen and farmers united, tive local banks, inter alia the Raiffeisen assembly of free, fortified people’s com- sometimes supported by manufacturers, banks. Due to a broader capital basis they munities.” Based on the Swiss tradition of to enable the cheap purchase of grain, had more freedom to grant credits; and as the commons and the cooperative, a large other food or fuel and to make bread. cooperatives they deserved the confidence cooperative movement formed itself in the In the second half of the 19th centu- of many citizens. course of the 19th century, especially with ry workers and later employees, officials The main focus of Raiffeisen banks the increasing industrialization. and farmers joined to protect and foster was on the savings and mortgage busi- This movement – in Switzerland and their interests as consumers through joint ness. Until this day, every Raiffeisen bank in Europe – infiltrated into new industrial procurement of essential goods. In 1851, is legally independent and each of them areas but not without preserving the basic eight members of the patriotic Grütli as- belongs to its cooperative members. The cooperative principles. The various types sociation around Karl Bürkli founded the first Raiffeisen bank of Switzerland was of cooperatives will be briefly presented Consumer Society Zurich (KVZ) which founded in 1899 in Bichelsee on the initi- below. was the first to be called “consumer soci- ative of the Catholic priest Johann Evan- ety”. The cooperative principles included gelist Traber. He was guided by the exam- Agricultural cooperatives an open membership, democratic manage- ple of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen who In particular, the agricultural crisis of the ment, the potential refunding and politi- had founded credit cooperatives in Germa- 1880s in Switzerland triggered a wave cal and religious neutrality. The consumer ny around 1850. They were to strengthen of creation of new cooperatives, espe- society Zurich was soon imitated all over the rural population by collective self-help cially purchasing and marketing cooper- Switzerland (Founding of the Swiss Con- and thus protect them against usury. atives. Farmers drew on the tradition of sumers’ Societies; from 1890 on called the Traber describes the Raiffeisen banks the commons and Alpine corporations Swiss Association of Consumer Associa- as follows: as well as the dairy cooperatives. In the tions, VSK; Coop since 1970). The con- “What are Raiffeisen banks? They are course of the 19th century, these cooper- sumer cooperation also stood in the coop- credit unions which are based on altruism atives spread as milk and dairy coopera- erative tradition of Switzerland, of course. and charity, willing to make sacrifices; tives from the mountains to the lowlands, they are intended to enhance the status of i.e. to the Central Plateau cantons of the Housing cooperatives farmers, craftsmen, trade and commerce German and French part of Switzerland. In the course of the 19th century the popu- morally and economically and to strength- Towards the end of the 19th century there lation of Switzerland doubled. At the same en the financially weak.”5 were about 2,000 of these cooperatives. time, the shifting from home industry to The cooperative movement of the 19th At the beginning of the 20th century they factory-based industry in rural territories century emphasised the cooperative tra- joined to form associations without weak- as well as in towns led to poor housing dition in Switzerland. So they succeeded ening the local cooperatives. The Eastern conditions and severe housing shortage. In in connecting conservative political forc- Swiss Association of Agricultural Coop- the mid-19th century private housebuilding es with early socialism which was solidly eratives (Volg) is a pioneer of such a co- was mainly in the hands of speculators. At connected to trade unions and labour par- operative association. In the 1890s, co- the beginning of the 20th century, finally, ties via the Grütliverein. Similar to the de- operatives also emerged in the livestock the cooperative and communal principle branch. Agricultural cooperatives are still also became more and more important in continued on page 13 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 13

” Swiss cooperative principle …” labour movement in Switzerland also ac- proach must be discussed again broadly continued from page 12 cepted the so-called “three-pillar-model” and be taught in schools and universities. consisting of “party, trade unions and co- If we study and investigate Swiss history velopment of direct democracy they suc- operatives”. Among other things, the trade and culture, we will become aware of the ceeded – outgoing from the communal unions supported the creation of produc- rich cooperative fund. Once more Wolf- level up to the cantonal and national level tion cooperatives and the social demo- gang von Wartburg: – in establishing a national movement cratic party incorporated the support of “Thus the Swiss person finds his politi- which internalised the cooperative idea the cooperatives in their programme from cal orientation in his homeland not in ab- across party lines. the outset. In 1895 a programme revision stract ideas, but in the real world. How- failed, inspired by Stefan Gschwind from ever, this reality is the person himself as Cooperative movement Basel Land, who wanted the socialisation a free, autonomous personality – and the th in the 20 century – of cooperatives instead of nationalisation alliance of free personalities in small and social capital and the third way make the key tool for the transition to so- smallest communities.” 6 The cooperative as a legal form was es- cialism. Elinor Ostrom lists principles for a suc- tablished in 1881 in the Swiss code of ob- After the First World War religious-so- cessful economic activity as a résumé of ligations and was becoming increasingly cialist circles around Leonhard Ragaz also her research about the commons. She was popular. Thus the number of coopera- accepted the cooperative idea and saw in able to monitor these principles on the tives massively increased in Switzerland it an important basis for a fairer society. basis of examples worldwide. They serve around the turn of the century (in 1883: Leonhard Ragaz turned against Marx- as an approach toward economic prob- 373; in 1890: 1,551; in 1910: 7,113). Above ist, state-centred approaches and held the lems. If we followed them in Switzerland all, the most important reasons were the view of a federalist, cooperative and paci- we would continue a long cooperative tra- recurrent crises of the capitalist economy. fist socialism. dition and pursue it in a dignified manner. With the big crisis of the 1930s the found- From 1970 on, the discussions about Ostrom’s cooperative principles are the ing of cooperatives strongly rose again, self-government and alternative econom- following: until they reached a culmination point in ic management provided the cooperative 1. Clearly defined boundaries and an ef- 1957 with more than 12,000 cooperatives. movement with new impulses. This was fective exclusion of external non-enti- Barely half of the cooperatives were of also reflected in the social democratic tled parties. agricultural nature; in addition, new ones party of Switzerland. Toward the end of 2. Rules for appropriation and provision of came from tertiary sectors, as for example the 1970s the comrades discussed a re- resource units must be related to local the electricity industry. After the Second vised version of the party programme. Fa- conditions. World War building and housing coopera- mous personalities like the philosopher 3. Users can participate in modifying op- tives were founded and promoted particu- Professor Dr Arnold Künzli added the Yu- erational rules so that an improved ad- larly often. goslavian model of self-government to aptation to changing conditions be- The Migros, founded in 1925, was the discussion. This model should form comes possible. based on a business idea of Gottlieb Du- the basis to overcome capitalism and to 4. Monitoring of compliance with the ttweiler. He had set himself the target to establish a democratic, socialist society rules. sell cheaper food by avoiding intermedi- with the help of the cooperative princi- 5. Graduated sanctions in case of viola- ary trade. In 1941 the Migros was convert- ple. However, the Yugoslavian model en- tions of rules. ed into a cooperative. The intention was to tered only sparsely the revised programme 6. Conflict-resolution mechanisms. protect the consumers’ interests and ori- sanctioned in 1982. Many suggestions re- 7. The independent rights of communes ent the business policy towards the “so- mained in cold storage and were not re- are not challenged by superior govern- cial capital”. For Duttweiler, the idea of sumed in the newest programme, which mental authorities. • the social capital was based on the cooper- has been sanctioned only recently. Thus ative principle: the capital must serve the the social democrats reject their traditional community in a responsible way and fos- “three-pillar-model” and ignored the co- 1 Von Wartburg, Wolfgang: Geschichte der Schweiz, München 1951, p. 17 ter solidarity in society. According to Du- operative principle without which, how- 2 Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institu- ttweiler, the cooperative idea also fosters ever, they are not able to realise their aim tions for Collective Action, Ostrom, Elinor, Cam- democracy in a decentralised sense and of a “social-ecological economic democ- bridge University Press, 1990 3 from bottom up. racy”. Von Wartburg, Wolfgang: Geschichte der Schweiz, München 1951, p. 11 The cooperative principle did not only 4 Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public win many supporters as an economic con- And today? law in Switzerland. It includes all individuals who cept; in politics as well a number of per- Today in Switzerland there still are more are citizens of the Bürgergemeinde, usually by hav- ing inherited the Bürgerrecht (citizenship), regard- sonalities tried to establish this principle than 12,000 cooperatives. This num- less of where they were born or where they may as the third way – beyond capitalism and ber must yet be increased and the coop- currently live. (Wikipedia) communism. The political concept want- erative principle as a comprehensive and 5 Traber, Joh. Ev.: Kurze Aufklärung über Raif- feisensche Darlehenskassenvereine im Lichte eines ed to convert the capitalistic society into a sensible economic model must be appre- praktischen Beispiels, St Gallen 1907, p. 3 society based on public service. Thus the ciated appropriately. The cooperative ap- 6 Von Wartburg, Geschichte der Schweiz, p. 10 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 14

“We are threatened by a vicious downward spiral” Radically wrong strategies have spread like a plague An interview with Professor Fredmund Malik

Fredmund Malik is a well-known econo- nancial ratios hardly help, because they re- of successful business management. There- mist and author. In the interview the Aus- flect only a short-term reality. I even say: fore there will be a bad surprise when pric- trian explains, where he sees the causes of The better operating figures are, the more es return to where the bull market started the crisis and why it is so dangerous. His dangerous the company’s position. Wrong off, which has always happened in similar gloomy forecast: Stock markets run the ideas have made the former Daimler CEO situations. For the Dow Jones index, this risk of a crash. There are pessimists and Jürgen Schrempp, for example, dump tens means down to 1,000 points; for the DAX those that exceed even sceptical forecast. of billions in the purchase of Chrysler. down to about 500 points. Briefly: Less Among them is Fredmund Malik. He is an Counterexamples are Ferdinand Piech than a tenth of today’s values. economist and director of “Malik Man- from VW or Helmut Maucher of Nestlé. agement Centre” in St Gall, Switzerland. This seems impossible from today’s per- What can be done against the debt over- spective … load? The crisis as such seemed impossible to Handelsblatt: We’re still in the finan- Innovative methods are urgently needed the majority. I expect a continuation of the cial crisis. As a management consultant, for a new operation of organization and collapse of the financial market. If we do where do you see the causes? management. Most of the Business and not apply new revolutionary methods, the Fredmund Malik: It is insolvency and eco- Economics departments at universities result will probably be the biggest defla- nomic mismanagement resulting from poor and business schools should also be tem- tionary depression in history. This means corporate governance and radically wrong porarily closed and asked before they re- a massive decline in economic perfor- strategies. This false management has been start: Why did your scientists tolerate eve- mance and hence the tax revenue. It will taught for decades in the business schools rything instead of scrutinizing? We have be followed by a string of bank failures and has spread like a plague. It is also re- lived in a period of systematic pollution of and national bankruptcies. Under such cir- sponsible for the fact that more and more our consciousness. The world was made cumstances, entrepreneurs will certainly intelligent heads no longer went into the by people who discern themselves and the no longer make investments. I expect the real economy, but in the financial industry. world only via monetary dimensions and low point in 2015 or 2016. Then the eco- Among other things, there are bonus sys- rate everything in cash only. One facet is nomic performance will be between 30 to tems, which set wrong incentives and de- that we have developed stock market ac- 50 percent lower than today. At the same stroy economy. This has caused a lot of bit- tivities into seductive infotainment. This time I expect a profound shift in values, terness, contempt and agony in companies, has caused additional damage. Even to- including the replacement of the neo-lib- which top management doesn’t notice. It ward the end of the great bull market at eral egoism by a new sense of community. opened up deep rifts in the corporate cul- the turn of the millennium, many people ture. This all happened at a time in which have invested in equities mainly through Where are these debt and price develop- the companies need all the confidence. pension funds and other vehicles and are ments interconnected? now suffering the losses, which are how- Falling share prices and prices of material Where are the seeds of all that? ever only in their beginnings. goods in general are only a problem if the It is that shareholder-value thinking. A positions are based on excessive credit – book published in 1986 made it popular. The DAX is which is the case today. Even if the share But the shareholder value is not a meas- threatened by a drastic crash price only slightly decreases, the owner ure of real economic performance, and it must contribute more money. If he can- is systematically misleading the top man- Where have companies and banks lost not do so, the bank will obligatorily liqui- agement. The supposed economic boom at their footing? date the position, i.e. sell the stock. This the end of the last millennium was cred- They were pushed up by loans. If a com- will lead to a vicious downward spiral it-based. Central banks have run a com- pany finances itself to 100 percent in equi- that spins faster and faster, and cannot be pletely wrong policy with their low interest ties today, analysts are shaking their heads. stopped by conventional means. The bear rates. Thinking in terms of financial di- The credo is: The return on equity must be markets are therefore just as exaggerated mensions only also gained priority in man- levered by borrowed capital. This ended up as the bull markets have been before. agement. In cynical words, man has been in massive debt for households, business- degraded to the actual value of his life in- es, banks and ultimately the state. And of Globalization is partially reversed surance, minus the funeral expenses. Thus course this run on debts was also respon- we set wrong incentives in reality, which sible for the great bull market in the stock Have current policies to fight the crisis have been spread by schools and, above all, markets. The financial sector has deviat- failed? by most management consultants. ed far from its origins. Originally it was to So far – yes. One tries to save the old finance investment and trade. But by the world and gives even more liquor to the Why was it so attractive in practice? late 90s the pure volume of the financial alcoholic. As I have already explained, the Shareholder value means: We want to transactions included a 100 to 1,000-fold causes were established long time ago. In make the shareholders rich. But that should of what real economy would have required. their faith in eternal prosperity, the Amer- not be the purpose of a business, although icans piled up national debt. Above all, fi- it can be its result. Assessing a company Where do you see the link between debts nancial enterprises behaved accordingly. by financial ratios is seductive because it and financial markets? Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan seems so easy. It is much easier than talk- Loans and greed boosted the bull market Greenspan with his low interest rate pol- ing about innovations and strategies, for for stocks. The schools however taught: example – which is however crucial. Fi- The bull market is a natural consequence continued on page 15 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 15

”We are threatened by …” Using new methods can have the poten- From the political point of view, radicali- continued from page 14 tial for a new economic miracle and new zation is a great danger. social stability. If we continue as before, Thank you for your time. • icy missed the last chance to make a cor- however, America will isolate itself; the Source: Handelsblatt dated 26/02/2012 rection and created a bubble in property European Union will lose cohesion and © Handelsblatt GmbH. All rights reserved. markets and bond markets instead. In ma- fall apart. An era of protectionism will terial economic terms the US are close to come. Globalization is partially reversed. (Translation: Current Concerns) a developing country. Fredmund Malik (*1944) The Vorarl- who had pointed to the manifest cur- What does this grim deflationary outlook berger is an economist with focus on rent crisis early enough and that it was include? management theory as well as the not about “not being able to know”, First, there will be the liquidation of un- owner and manager of a management- but the convenient “not wanting to sustainable loans. The volume may be of consulting firm in St Gall. He applies know”. a magnitude of more than 100 trillion dol- inter alia systems theory and cybernet- In 2004 Fredmund Malik had already lars. We are talking about a forced sale at ics to the analysis and design of man- lucidly presented the great questions of all major asset levels: stocks, bonds, corpo- agement systems. Earlier he was teach- the indebted world economy at a one- ing at the University of St Gall, where day seminar on “Current economic situ- rate shares, commodities, real estate, which he is Titular Professor for General Man- ations in the US” and there he precisely may also fall to a tenth of their peak prices. agement with particular regard to lead- predicted the present decay processes. ership and governance of firms. The documentation is available from And the investor? Malik has always understood the himself or the editors. In seminars in- He has only few options. Over time, money economy in a personal way and as- terviews and closed rounds he pointed will increase in value. Therefore, the inves- sessed human relations and confidence to the inevitable risks. He offers man- tor should keep his money in cash in a good as a guiding principle in business in con- agement trainings based on a personal currency at his bank. Later, he must deposit trast to the U.S. management systems concept of man. These are substantial- it at home to avoid being caught in a run on that are based on controlling, respec- ly better than all other MBAs as far as practical relevance, contact with reali- banks. The deposit protection schemes are tively on a different concept of man (Menschenbild). ty, common sense and congealed expe- much too small. I guess that more than half He is among those who do not have rience from the manufacturing econo- of all banks will become insolvent. to hide by arguing: “No one would have my are concerned. anticipated the economic crisis”. In Cur- Which social developments are we to ex- rent Concerns No. 10/2009, we reported (www.malik-mzsg.ch) pect? Brazilian President critizes “developed” countries monetary expansion policy

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at- especially in the US and Europe to avoid policy leads to a “currency war” which tacked the “developed countries” harsh- liquidity shortage. In December and again again produces inequality. ly of its crisis politics. The monetary poli- on 29 February 2012, for example, the Due to this development the Brazilian cy which the current crisis is dealt with is European Central Bank (ECB) lent cheap government has taken action to restrict unleashing a “monetary tsunami”, Rousseff money in total of more than 1 billion euro. capital flow to Brazil. “We must defend said on Thursday. The industrialized coun- Rousseff said that one is “concerned” ourselves”, Finance Minister Guido Man- tries are compensating their “fiscal rigidity” about the economic policy measures. The tega commented the decision. • with a monetary policy that is “absolutely developed countries are not using “budg- Source: http://amerika21.de/mel- inconsistent”. For other countries this poli- etary policies for expanding investment dung/2012/03/49165/geldpolitik-rousseff, Portal cy brings about “very detrimental repercus- to come out of the crisis“ but instead Amerika21.de, Forum für ein anderes Amerika, 4 sions“, critized the Brazilian head of state. are pouring 4.7 billion dollars onto the March 2012 Rousseff critizes the enormous amounts world“, Brazilian President Dilma Rouss- of money being pumped into the markets, eff said. For the developing countries this (Translation: Current Concerns)

On the occasion of the Confederate Referendum of 11 March 2012 Stop the boundless construction of second homes

The initiative “Stop the boundless con- be limited and restricted will only be the And every year there are 8,000 more that struction of second homes” intends to re-utilization of first apartments and the are added. The initiative stops the con- limit the proportion of weekend flats per construction of new weekend flats. struction of new second homes that de- municipality to 20 per cent. Where this stroy our mountain regions and that are proportion is already higher today, there Weekend flats are not second homes empty most of the time. will be a stop of all constructions of week- The initiative is directed against second end flats if the initiative is adopted. homes only, (cold beds), not against holiday Second homes destroy the beauty of Swit- flats that are rented (warm beds). These may zerland Second homes can remain second homes be built again in future and they offer un- Our children shall have the opportuni- The existing second homes may be used forgettable holiday events to Swiss families. ty of enjoying the unimpaired nature and and sold as second homes after the initi- Switzerland has got too many second ative will have been adopted. What will homes already today continued on page 16 No 11 12 March 2012 Current Concerns Page 16

”Stop the boundless …” Second homes stay empty for 11 tels, rented holiday apartments and tour- continued from page 15 months a year, and they bring little to the ism sites, as well as for renovations. The mountain railways, the restaurants and the capacity utilization of touristic infrastruc- mountain regions. Second homes spoil the other touristic enterprises. ture will improve, and it will provide for most beautiful regions of Switzerland, and High prices to be paid for ground and successful tourism. ruin the intact overall appearances of the speculation result in closing of hotels and localities of our mountain villages. impaired tourist enterprises Counter – Proposition – an alibi of the Federal Council and of Parliament The native people are driven away The construction of second homes de- through the construction of second homes vours valuable agricultural land. The indirect counterproposition demands The construction of second homes drives Agricultural enterprises in mountain re- the communities and the cantons to es- the prices and the rents for apartments and gions are threatened in their existence and tablish a “well-balanced” proportion be- apartments properties into heights that the owners are forced to abandon them. tween the first homes and the second native people cannot afford to pay so that homes. The issue, however, to decide they are driven out of the regions and are 20 per cent of second homes is enough! which proportion is a “well-balanced” forced to emigrate. The initiative grants guidelines as to the one, is left to the cantons and to the com- construction of second homes to the com- munes. Swiss tourism suffers from the construc- munes. This way this initiative limits the tion of second homes. wild growth of second homes. Source: www.zweitwohungsinitiative.ch, 28.2.2012 Hotels, rented holiday apartments and en- terprises which work to the service of the The initiative is creates jobs in the moun- * * * tourism, are impaired by the construction tain regions. of second homes. The construction of sec- The construction branch has to follow new The initiative is supported by the “Stif- ond homes destroys what is most valuable guidelines if the initiative is adopted. What tung Landschaftsschutz Schweiz” (Foun- in Swiss tourism – unimpaired nature and will become more profitable again, will be dation for the Protection of the Land- landscapes. sustainable construction projects for ho- scape of Switzerland).

High-density building gs. For some time, there have been dis- nal council. The building contractor takes building that makes whole families lose cussions that homes should be built with- charge of the work and clears the place. their old age revenue because there is a in the communes’ building zone in a And what will happen all of a sudden? dispute about any old rafter in the inte- more careful, cautious and reflected way. A neighbor thinks of the paragraphs of rior of the home, and that there has to be “High-density building” is a key word monument protection and that the whole looked for an ancient- substitution that is among local planners and architects. Liv- project could infringe those paragraphs. hand-made and carved and other things of ing in homes shall be more family-friend- And who is he fetching all to the village of this sort, cannot be the purpose of “mon- ly, and with good links to the public trans- a sudden? It is the seigneurs of the canton. ument protection”. The princess has to ports should be appropriate for older And now the devil is let out in Seldwyla! adapt: It cannot be the overall sense of people, children and youths, the little Now the situation is as follows: The barn this monument protection that any reno- shopping facilities for house wives, who must be put up; plus there will be a com- vation and any transformation of a build- come from work, should be near-by, and plaint to the authorities ing would be so expensive that only specu- other things more: which the population A legal maxim is: State action has to lators and the mafia can afford it. and a coming generation growing sound- be convenient: How do you teach prin- You should have supposed that there ly, should be considered by builders and cess “Monument Protection” that the would be more expertise in the commu- architects. Some communes in Roman- luxurious years of high conjuncture have nity council of Seldwyla: They could have dy have already been proving that these passed and that monument protection has been looking for a way out marked by rea- things are possible and viable. to adapt to the people as a whole? Have son. Switzerland has got other and more However, if there is in Seldwyla, (fa- all the respective laws and all dispositions important things to do. In Seldwyla, there mous location taken from a novel written to be “combed out” and be reduced to a is the project of nuclear final disposal site by Gottfried Keller) a cautious and respon- minimum? That a reconstruction of an old “ante portas”. sible man who takes the initiative… In a picturesque village with a lot of half-tim- bered houses and monument protection there was an ancient farmhouse with a barn that was so dilapidate that there was scarcely anyone who could have dared to go under its roof. Citizen X. whose native home it was, was planning a building re- placing this barn. He submitted an appli- cation for a building permit that was de- manding the substitution of the barn by an annex to the home building that was going very well with the overall appear- ance of the locality. This annex would pro- vide for three apartments for his children who were approaching the adult age, and who were thinking of founding fam- ilies. The project was agreed to and was (picture ma) welcomed with pleasure by the commu-