Umstrittene Schweizer Sicherheitspolitik ... - ETH Zürich

Ausland
longer the primary mode of armed conflicts. Among the “hard” risks we
face today are terrorism, regional and intra-state conflicts, proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles, cyber-terrorism, and
piracy, threats to energy security, organized crime, drugs, and human
trafficking. In Europe, migration, refugees, racism, xenophobia, Islamphobia,
demographic trends, climate change and pandemic diseases
are among the “soft” challenges we confront. Food and water scarcity
and environmental degradation are issues for a large part of the world’s
population. All these issues generate consequences that have an impact
on our security.
Overarching these specific threats and challenges is the fact of a deteriorating
security climate on a global scale. There are today numerous
ongoing armed conflicts in different parts of planet earth, many with little
prospect of a solution. These disputes, rather than being products of a
clash of civilizations – which, by the way, is a contradiction in terms –
are a consequence of religious, mostly sectarian conflicts, and ethnic and
tribal wars, all occurring in tandem with the struggle between the world’s
“haves” and “have-nots”. It is highly likely that ethnic, sectarian and tribal
wars will continue to besiege us for most of this century. The role and
influence of religion and its variants are on the rise. People everywhere
are asserting their ethnic or tribal identity with increasing aggressiveness
and are resorting to violence to achieve their ends. Studies show that in
the 20th century more than 100 million lives were lost in armed clashes
alone. We have the historic responsibility not to repeat in the 21st century
what has led to those horrendous figures. This of course requires a
correct and precise perception of security risks and threats by all of us. It
also demands the development of policies that genuinely contribute to
the improvement of the international security climate while protecting
the homeland.
Security policies have, broadly speaking, lagged behind the constantly
growing complexity of risks and threats. Today, we are probably
all less safe than we were a decade ago. In the recent past, policy planners
and makers have responded to security challenges on a national (or
ethno-centric) basis, despite being increasingly aware of the need for
international cooperation and solidarity. Turkey witnessed this tendency
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