Faces Of Neutrality

"This important book fills a historical gap and acts as a valuable corrective in the general treatment of Switzerland's role during the Second World War. In addressing all of the moral and historical charges laid at Switzerland's door in relation to Nazi Germany, it does not offer an apology but, far more valuably, provides a sustained, nuanced analysis of the issues at stake. Contending that Swiss neutrality during the Second World War has not only been misunderstood, but has also been unfairly stigmatized, the book's wide-ranging assessment offers a much-needed corrective to received wisdom on the subject. Commendably, it presents a comparative assessment, comparing the Swiss both to European neutrals, and to the U.S. - which, it is often forgotten, defended the posture of neutrality for the first two years of the war. The study highlights the need for careful assessment in the context of more than half a century ago. Seen in those terms, the behavior of the Swiss emerges far more nuanced, more driven by the desperate conditions of total war, and far less susceptible to present-day moralizations than in the work of many writers. This important contribution deepens our understanding of the Second World War."--Books.google.

This important book fills a historical gap and acts as a valuable corrective in the general treatment of Switzerland's role during the Second World War. In addressing all of the moral and historical charges laid at Switzerland's door in relation to Nazi Germany, it does not offer an apology but, far more valuably, provides a sustained, nuanced analysis of the issues at stake. Contending that Swiss neutrality during the Second World War has not only been misunderstood, but has also been unfairly stigmatized, the book's wide-ranging assessment offers a much-needed corrective to received wisdom on the subject. Commendably, it presents a comparative assessment, comparing the Swiss both to European neutrals, and to the U.S. - which, it is often forgotten, defended the posture of neutrality for the first two years of the war. The study highlights the need for careful assessment in the context of more than half a century ago. Seen in those terms, the behavior of the Swiss emerges far more nuanced, more driven by the desperate conditions of total war, and far less susceptible to present-day moralizations than in the work of many writers. This important contribution deepens our understanding of the Second World War.

This collection examines the theory, practice, and application of state neutrality in international relations. With a focus on its modern-day applications, the studies in this volume analyze the global implications of permanent neutrality for Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States. Exploring permanent neutrality’s role as a realist security model capable of rivaling collective security, the authors argue that permanent neutrality has the potential to decrease major security dilemmas on the global stage.

This book analyses the notion of neutrality to the politics of the state in Southeast Asia. Distinguishing among neutrality, neutralism and neutralisation, it asks what relation do the concepts bear to the independence of states, and how do they relate to other forms of inter-state relations and to participation in international organizations. The author considers concepts of neutrality and the policy of non-alignment as they were developed in South and Southeast Asia. Using case studies of a variety of Asian countries, including India, Burma, Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia, he discusses the novel notion of a regional form of neutralisation as a means of decolonising the region and examines the relevance neutralism has in current international politics and what might it have in the future. This new work by one of the most foremost historians on Southeast Asia is of interest to scholars in the field of Asian History, Politics, International Relations and Strategic Studies.

This book offers a timely and concise academic and historical background to the concept and practice of neutrality, a relatively new phenomenon in foreign and security policy. It approaches two key questions: under what circumstances can permanent neutrality be applied, and what are the main ingredients of success and the causes of failure in applying permanent neutrality? By evaluating, comparing, and contrasting the two successful European case studies of Austria and Switzerland and the two challenging Asian case studies of Afghanistan and Laos, the author creates a new framework of analysis to explore the feasibility of reframing, adopting, and applying a policy of neutrality and jump start debates on the feasibility of the idea of “new neutrality”. He opens the debate by asking whether, as neutrality successfully functioned as a conflict resolution tool during the Cold War, a reframed and adopted version of neutrality could also serve the needs of the twenty-first-century world order. This is an insightful book for all scholars, students, and policymakers workingin international relations, security studies, the history of neutrality, and Afghanistan studies.

International tax regimes and practices are heavily criticized for failing to fairly levy corporate tax on giant multinational taxpayers in the current globalized and digitalized world. This important and far-seeing book demonstrates how formulary apportionment (FA) – an approach by which a multinational corporation pays each jurisdiction’s corporate tax based on the share of its worldwide income allocated to that jurisdiction – can achieve the much-sought goal of aligning value creation and taxation. The author, through an intensive analysis of the European Union’s (EU’s) Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) Directive Proposal(s) and comparison to the United States (US’s) formulary apportionment experience, shows how the perceived problems with an FA system can be overcome and lays out the necessary elements for its feasibility. With detailed attention to the debates around formulary apportionment and its theoretical foundations, the book provides a blueprint for rebuilding the normative framework for the EU’s tax reform by clearly analysing the implications of the following and more: theorising public benefits to be represented by taxation; reorganising different economic theories about tax neutrality and tax justice; advancing the comparative legal research methodology to analyse law reform by combining the functional approach and the problem-solving approach; designing the logical formulary apportionment system for digital economy; ensuring the removal of the incentive for multinationals to shift reported income to low-tax locations; reducing the tax system’s complexity and the administrative burden it imposes on firms; eliminating transfer pricing complexity for intra-firm transactions; achieving equal weighting of the sales factor, the labour factor, and the asset factor in the formula; application of ‘destination-based’ rule for attributing the sales factor; and replacing the traditional permanent establishment nexus with a ‘factor presence nexus’. The presentation incorporates extensive comparison between the EU’s formulary apportionment tax reform option and FA systems existing in the United States (US) at state level, including reference to relevant US case law and legislation. As a possible option to address the problem of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), formulary apportionment is gaining increasing acceptance and attention. This book will prove invaluable to taxation authorities, tax practitioners, and scholars in its deeply informed and systematic guidance on good practices and prevention of problematic experiences in establishing and implementing an effective and market-neutral FA system.

This book opens new perspectives into the Cold War ideological confrontations. Using Austria and Finland as an example, it shows how the Cold War battles for the hearts and minds of the people also influenced policies in countries that wished to stay outside the conflict. Following the model of older European neutrals, Austria and Finland sought to combine neutrality with democracy. The combination was eagerly challenged by ideological Cold Warriors on both sides of the divide and questioned at home too. Was neutrality risking the neutrals’ commitment to democracy, or did the commitment to the western type of democracy threaten their commitment to neutrality? Confronting these doubts grew into an organic part of practicing neutrality in the Cold War world. The neutrals needed to be exceptionally clear regarding the ideological foundations of their neutrality. Successful neutrality required a great deal of conceptual consistence and domestic unanimity. None of this was pre-given in Austria or Finland. However, in the model of Switzerland and Sweden, (armed) neutrality was systematically integrated with the official state ideology and promoted as a part of national identity. Legacies of these policies outlived the end of the Cold War.