Negotiating independence. Switzerland in 1647–48: Johann Rudolf Wettstein, mayor of the state (canton) of Basel City and negotiator for the Swiss Confederation

Raymond Saner, (2020) “Negotiating independence. Switzerland in 1647–48: Johann Rudolf Wettstein, mayor of the state (canton) of Basel City and negotiator for the Swiss Confederation”; Négociations 2020/1 (n° 33), pages 7 à 23 Éditions , De Boeck Supérieur.

This article recounts a historical negotiation success during the Westphalia negotiations in the 17th Century. Mr. Rudolf Wettstein, the then Mayor of Basel City, was able to single-handedly obtain exemptions for the Swiss cantons from being accountable to courts of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations (HRGE), amounting to a declaration of independence. As a first step, the author describes the historical context of the negotiations and subsequently the nego- tiation process involving multi-actor international negotiations during the peace negotiations at Westphalia which consisted of multi-actor internal negotiations within the Swiss Confederation and external multi-party negotiations with the leading powers who participated in the Westphalia negotiation process.

Newspaper articles on Negotiations

20220521 Newspaper articles on Negotiations

Newspaper interviews and articles on negotiations by Raymond Saner Covering negotiations for peace and international relations.

Zoff mit der Freundin (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 16.2.1996)

Verhandeln die Schweizer richtig (Basler Zeitung, 10.3.1998)

Friendesförderung was tun was lassen (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24.8.2004)

Verhandlungen über Irak im UN Sicherheitsrat. (Die Welt am Sonntag, 3.3.2003)

Private military and security companies: legal and political ambiguities impacting the global governance of warfare in public arenas

Raymond Saner, Amaka Uchegbu and Lichia Yiu; 2019

The current regulatory environment of significance to the PMSC industry is ambiguous as a result of porous legal boundaries and incongruent policies due to competing political and judicial systems: national, regional, and international. Accordingly, it is essential to consider how ambiguities could be reduced and turned into legal certainty through both hard and soft law to prevent human rights abuses.

Multilateral cooperation revisited establishing the way forward by reassessing the realities

Ida Manton and Raymond Saner, Diplomacy Dialogue, CSEND, Geneva-Skopje, 2017

As our world is globalizing by the day, so are the threats to security. The methodology for mutual cooperation suggested in the Helsinki Final Act is no longer enough and does not bring many of the existing conflicts to an end. The good faith of Helsinki that expected the countries to”…equally endeavour, in developing their cooperation, to improve the well-being of peoples and contribute to the fulfilment of their aspirations through, inter alia, the benefits resulting from increased mutual knowledge and from progress and achievement in the economic, scientific, technological, social, cultural and humanitarian fields”. What needs to be taken into consideration are the challenges when countries do not fulfil these expectations. This paper will look into the reasons for such non-compliant behaviours and offer ideas for possibilities to change such practices of non-compliance.

OSCE Confidence Building in the Economic and Environmental Dimension

20171221 OSCEReport on OSCE Confidence Building in the Economic and Environmental Dimension published on 13 December 2017