Saggi di Dodis 5 (2023/3)

Ireland and Switzerland are two island nations: Ireland is a geographical island, Switzerland a political one. Despite this – or perhaps precisely because of it – the two states pursue different foreign policies. This is also evident in bilateral relations: Even before it became a state, Ireland tried to establish contact with Switzerland through clandestine diplomacy, which the latter tried to prevent. It was only with the opening of the respective diplomatic missions and the end of the Second World War that bilateral relations were able to normalise. Nevertheless, inter-state relations remained superficial during the Cold War and were mainly characterised by the absence of bilateral visits. It was not until Ireland took over the presidency of the European Community in 1984 and 1990 that Swiss interest in Ireland increased. But it is precisely because relations between Ireland and Switzerland were so conflict-free and superficial that they paint an authentic picture of the foreign policy of the two states.

Jonas Hirschi, *1993, M.A., Historian, Researcher at the Dodis research centre since 2020, PhD candidate at the University of Bern.