Switzerland's belated decision to join the United Nations marks a major turning point in that country's history, and ends the unusual situation whereby one of the world's most prosperous and internationally active nations has not been a member of the world body.
Over the decades, the Swiss have consistently voted down attempts to join the UN, arguing that this would violate their country's traditional policy of neutrality. This was despite the fact that the United Nations has its European headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva, as well as the headquarters of a number of other international organisations, including the World Health Organisation and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. For the same reasons of neutrality, the Swiss had also turned their back on the European Union, despite being at the geographical heart of the continent.
Switzerland's neutrality is deeply rooted in its history, and allowed it to preserve its independence through several turbulent centuries of European history. But the age when a country needed to stay neutral to remain independent is long gone, and Switzerland's decision to join the UN ends an anachronism.
It is surprising, though, how close the vote was. While 54.1 per cent of the electorate voted in favour of UN membership at a referendum, nearly half of Switzerland's 23 cantons voted against membership. Still, it marked a sizeable shift in opinion from the last time a referendum was held on UN membership in 1986, when 75 per cent of voters rejected the idea.
The vote revealed the continued divisions between French and German-speaking Switzerland, as well as between town and country. While the rural, German-speaking cantons voted against membership, the French-speaking part of the country voted in favour, as did Switzerland's big international cities.
The next step is to see whether the Swiss will reconsider their refusal to apply for EU membership. Economically and culturally, Switzerland is an integral part of Europe and its long-term interests are linked with the future of the EU. A rational decision would be for the Swiss to join an organisation on which they are so dependent.