The Swiss Minaret Ban Referendum and Switzerland’s International Reputation: A Vote with an Impact

Abstract

In 2009, Switzerland prohibited the constructions of minarets on a nationwide basis due to a popular referendum. Immediately, the status of Switzerland as an ambassador for diplomacy and neutrality was questioned by the international community. This paper discusses the short-term impact of the vote on Switzerland’s international reputation by analyzing Switzerland’s ranking in the National Brand Index (NBI) between 2005 and 2015. The analysis shows that the general international reputation of Switzerland as well as its people’s and government’s reputation experienced a decline after the vote. The Swiss, in particular, suffered a loss in reputation abroad, while the reputation of Switzerland’s government maintained a high ranking. An explanation for these differences is the way the Swiss Federal Council acted before and after the vote. The Council opposed the initiative from the very beginning and started a campaign to assure that the good relations with other countries, especially Muslim countries remain intact. These efforts paid off, as the analysis of the NBI shows. By actively reaching out to important parties such as the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Swiss government could maintain its position in the top three of the NBI ranking. This was possible due to Switzerland’s long-term strategy in “image-cultivation” abroad. Meanwhile, the Swiss people who voted for the ban with 57 yes-votes experienced a downward trend in their international reputation.

Notes

1 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), “Switzerland: Brief History of Presence Switzerland”, https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/eda/en/documents/das-eda/landeskommunikation/Geschichte_PRS_20120820_EN.pdf (accessed 12 December 2016).

2 Savannah Dodd, “The Structure of Islam in Switzerland and the Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2015, pp. 43–64, p. 43.

3 Dodd, “Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, op. cit., p. 54.

4 Stéphane Lathion, “Citizens’ initiatives in Switzerland”, in The Swiss Minaret Ban: Islam in Question, eds. Patrick Haenni and Stéphane Lathion, Fribourg: Religioscope Institute, 2011, pp. 17–19, p. 17.

5 Ibid., p. 18.

6 Dodd, “Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, op. cit., p. 51.

7 Ibid., p. 54.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Jean-François Mayer, “In the Shadow of the Minaret: Origins and Implications of a Citizen’s Initiative”, in The Swiss Minaret Ban: Islam in Question, eds. Patrick Haenni and Stéphane Lathion, Fribourg: Religioscope Institute, 2011, pp. 10–17, p. 13.

11 Simon J. Mason et al., Mediating Tensions Over Islam in Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland, Zurich: Center for Security Studies (CSS), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, 2010, p. 13.

12 Dodd, “Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, op. cit., p. 50.

13 Stefano Allievi, “Mosques in Europe: Real Problems and False Solutions”, in Mosques in Europe: Why a Solution has Become a Problem, ed. Stefano Allievi, London: Alliance Publishing Trust, 2010, p. 20.

14 Feuille fédérale, “Message relatif à l’initiative populaire ‘contre la construction de minarets’”, (On the Popular Initiative ‘Against Construction of Minarets’), August 27, 2008, p. 6930, http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/ff/2008/6923.pdf (accessed 12 December 2016).

15 Human Rights Schweiz, “Menschenrechtsargumente gegen Minarettverbot”, (Human Rights Argument Against the Ban of Minarets), March 12, 2015, http://www.humanrights.ch/de/menschenrechte-schweiz/inneres/gruppen/religioese/religionsfreiheit-minarettverbot (accessed 12 December 2016).

16 Human Rights Watch, “Switzerland: Minaret Ban Violates Rights”, December 4, 2009, https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/12/04/switzerland-minaret-ban-violates-rights (accessed 12 December 2016).

17 Human Rights Schweiz, “Klage gegen Minarettverbot für unzulässig erklärt”, (Lawsuit Against Minaret Ban Declared Invalid), 2012, http://www.humanrights.ch/de/menschenrechteschweiz/inneres/gruppen/religioese/minarettverbot (accessed 12 December 2016).

18 UN News Center, “UN Rights Chief Says Swiss Ban on Minarets ‘Clearly Discriminatory’”, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33104 (accessed 12 December 2016).

19 Johannes Matyassy and Seraina Flury, Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy: Referendum on Banning Minarets, Los Angeles, CA: Figueroa Press, 2011, p. 20.

20 J. S. Nye Jr., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, New York: Public Affairs, 2004.

21 Jian Wang, “Managing National Reputation and International Relations in the Global Era. Public Diplomacy Revisited”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2006, pp. 91–96, p. 92.

22 R. Jervis, The Logic of Images in International Relations, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970.

23 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Switzerland, “The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index 2009 Report”, p. 4, https://www.eda.admin.ch/content/dam/eda/de/documents/das-eda/landeskommunikation/Zusammenfassung_NBI_2009_Schweiz.pdf (accessed 12 December 2016).

24 Wang, “Managing National Reputation”, op. cit., p. 92.

25 Jonathan McGlory, The New Persuaders. An International Ranking of Soft Power, London: Institute for Government, 2010, p. 6.

26 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 15.

27 Ibid., p. 19.

28 Ibid., p. 27.

29 Aziz Douai and Halal K. Nofal. “Commenting in the Online Arab Public Sphere: Debating the Swiss Minaret Ban and the Ground Zero Mosque”, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2012, pp. 266–282, p. 270.

30 Dodd, “Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, op. cit., p. 54.

31 Michael Lawton, “Turkish Minister Calls on Muslims to Boycott Swiss Banks”, Deutsche Welle, December 2, 2009, http://www.dw.com/en/turkish-minister-calls-on-muslims-to-boycott-swiss-banks/a-4962982 (accessed 12 December 2016).

32 Mason et al., “Mediating Tensions Over Islam in Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland”, op. cit., p. 16.

33 Lawton, “Turkish Minister Calls on Muslims to Boycott Swiss Banks”, op. cit.

34 OIC was formerly known as the Organization of Islamic Conference and changed in 2011 to Organization of Islamic Cooperation. For more on OIC visit, http://www.oic-oci.org/ (accessed 10 October 2017)

35 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 25.

36 Dodd, “Effects of the Swiss Minaret Ban”, op. cit., p. 54.

37 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 27.

38 Ibid., p. 25.

39 Hassan, Amro, “Egypt. Clerics Enraged by Swiss Minarets Ban”, Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2009, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/12/egypt-clerics-enraged-by-swiss-minarets-ban.html (accessed 12 December 2016).

40 Douai and Nofal, “Commenting in the Online Arab Public Sphere”, op. cit., p. 277.

41 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 21.

42 Mason et al., “Mediating Tensions Over Islam in Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland”, op. cit., p. 16.

43 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 10.

44 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), “Brief History of Presence Switzerland”, op. cit., p. 2.

45 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 17.

46 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), “Brief History of Presence Switzerland”, op. cit., p. 3.

47 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 23.

48 Ibid., p. 20.

49 Mayer, “In the Shadow of the Minaret”, op. cit., p. 16.

50 Mason et al., “Mediating Tensions Over Islam in Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland”, op. cit., p. 14.

51 Matyassy and Flury, “Challenges for Switzerland’s Public Diplomacy”, op. cit., p. 29.

52 Ibid., p. 16.

53 Ibid., p. 25.

54 Tim Adams, “Simon Anholt Interview: There is only One Global Superpower: Public Opinion”, The Guardian, November 10, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/30/simon-anholt-good-country-party-global-superpower-public-opinion (accessed 12 December 2016).

55 Those countries are: U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, and South Africa.

56 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), “Nation Brands Index 2009 Report”, op. cit., p. 5.

57 Unfortunately, the Swiss government only provides detailed reports of their NBI ranking for the years 2008, 2009 and 2015. For the other years only short reports with the most important details are available. Nevertheless, the reports provide enough material to receive a comprehensive and reliable overview about the development of the international reputation of Switzerland between 2005 and 2015. For 2014 no report is online and for 2012 only a general report of Switzerland’s reputation is provided. This is also why sometimes, not every year is illustrated in the graphs.

58 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), “Nation Brands Index 2009 Report”, op. cit., p. 4.

59 Ibid., p. 22.

60 Ibid., p. 5.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dina Wyler

Dina Wyler is pursuing graduate studies in International Relations and Religion at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Zurich. While in Zurich, she worked at econcept Inc., a private consultancy office, specializing in strategic planning, evaluation and project management for public administration as well as for an NGO in Geneva, dealing with human rights. In summer 2017 she participated in the Muslim-Jewish Conference in Sarajevo.