{"id":522740,"date":"2024-03-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=522740"},"modified":"2025-12-13T22:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:43:06","slug":"some-more-or-less-good-reasons-not-to-abolish-larmee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/policy\/switzerland\/some-more-or-less-good-reasons-not-to-abolish-larmee\/","title":{"rendered":"Some reasons (more or less good) not to abolish the army"},"content":{"rendered":"

The army, a perennial topic of discussion in Switzerland, is once again at the forefront of the media scene, due to budget debates. Here are some arguments you may not have thought of yet in favor of maintaining this unique militia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. No army, no sovereignty.<\/strong> Imagine for a moment a group of people all armed with a stick and wearing a helmet, with the exception of one who is not fortunate enough to have such equipment. This would be the situation, all other things being equal, of a Switzerland without an army in a world where (almost) all states have them: deprived. If sovereignty is defined as the ability of a state to chart its own course, it goes without saying that having an army is a sine qua non condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. No army, no fighter planes.<\/strong> Without fighter jets, there's no air policing. And without air policing, there's no air sovereignty: anyone, from foreign tourists in pleasure planes to armed military jets from neighboring countries, can violate your airspace without being bothered. And whatever the advocates of certain \u00abcheap\u00bb or \u00abmore ecological\u00bb alternatives may say, air policing worthy of the name can only be provided by supersonic fighter jets, without which any intruder will have plenty of time to circle Switzerland three times in the air before possibly being stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n