New publication

In the wake of the crises and upheavals of world history, violations of the diplomatic status of individuals and institutions increased during the 20th century. It is precisely the great symbolic significance which diplomatic institutions still carry today as representations of other states that was particularly attractive for attacks. Time and again, the disregard for the inviolability of diplomatic missions and diplomatic personnel was instrumentalized for political or criminal goals.  

In the latest article of the journal Saggi di Dodis, Timo Keller shows that Switzerland was not spared from this: through extensive source work, the author reconstructs a total of 42 attacks in the period from 1945 to 1989; 23 of them on Swiss representations abroad and 19 on foreign representations in Switzerland. He typologizes the identified assaults and thus provides a valuable overview of this special type of criminal activity.