Sicherheit 2010 - Center for Security Studies (CSS) - ETH Zürich

Executive Summary
General feeling of security: Compared to the previous year, the Swiss feel slightly
less secure and are less optimistic about the near future of Switzerland and the world.
Yet in the long term, the personal security and the future of Switzerland are still
viewed very optimistically. Every other respondent believes that the international
situation will remain as it is.
Trust in institutions: The ranking remains unchanged in 2010: The police forces
and the judiciary receive the highest level of trust, federal authorities, the armed
forces and the economy reach medium levels and the media and political parties
reach low levels of trust. Except for the Federal Council and the Federal Parliament,
all institutions reached higher levels of trustworthiness this year. The Federal
Council in particular and, to a lesser extent, the Parliament clearly received lower
ratings than last year.
Autonomy and willingness to open up: The Swiss remain willing to open up while
their wish for maximum national autonomy persists: A large majority still endorses
the bilateral agreements with the EU. The traditionally high levels of scepticism
towards a political convergence between Switzerland and both the EU and NATO
remain stable. The proposal of joining the EU or NATO still draws little support.
The approval of the UN remains stable, and international cooperation that has no
adverse effect on sovereign institutional commitments is endorsed by a majority.
Neutrality: Abolishing Swiss neutrality remains unthinkable. Nevertheless, neutrality
is viewed somewhat more critically than in 2009, since the belief in the security
function of neutrality which was especially distinct in 2009 is less prevalent. The
belief that national security is increasingly determined by other states becomes
markedly more popular. The solidarity and identity function of neutrality is still
widely recognised.
Armed forces: A regain of trust and support but no consensus: Three quarters of
the population believe that the armed forces are necessary and wish to have wellequipped
and trained armed forces. Yet almost half of the respondents still advocate
the downsizing of the armed forces. As in 2009, the armed forces witnessed higher
levels of approval than in previous years with respect to the size of the defence
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