Inside Zurich’s gleaming new Chipperfield extension Kunsthaus, all in polished limestone and gold, is a room dedicated to the atonement of the moral debits of economic neutrality. The Bührle collection is one of the greatest private treasures of modern European art and the pride of the new building.

It was assembled by Emil Bührle, the Swiss industrialist and arms manufacturer who coined his millions selling guns. To the Nazis. And to the Allies. Now, of course, Bührle’s legacy needs some deft explanation. A museum within the museum—this room—does it.

Four months after the start of the biggest war fought on European soil since Bührle’s shells rolled from east to west, Switzerland is no longer the kind of place a businessman can profit from so easily. of a world at war beyond the 24 cantons. But there are still some explanations to be provided.

In a move that surprised many allies — and indeed, many Swiss — Bern mirrored almost all EU sanctions against Russia.

This is no small feat: it involves freezing the assets of more than 1,100 people closely linked to Putin’s regime, hundreds of whom do business with Swiss banks. And much more importantly, it involves curbs on the trade in Russian natural resources – most of which are handled by the big commodity houses in Zug and Geneva. Bern insists this does not mean there has been a change in Switzerland’s long-cherished neutrality.

Others, particularly the country’s largest political bloc, the populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), disagree. Neutrality, in the SVP’s book, is also synonymous with trade free from political interference. Bern’s willingness to adapt to Brussels and Washington is a betrayal of Swiss values, says the SVP. And as faction leader Thomas Aeschi thundered in parliament earlier this month, there is no evidence that sanctions do anything to change the course of Russia, they only harm Swiss economic interests. In the words often attributed to the 19th century diplomat Talleyrand: it’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake.

Aeschi is right. Switzerland stands to lose more than its Western peers by imposing sanctions on Russia. There are of course many reasons to do business in Switzerland. But aside from the highly skilled workforce, the tax system, the stability and the rule of law, there is also, for many people who come to the country, the lure of the resolute independence of Switzerland. its neutrality.

Many companies locate in Switzerland precisely because they perceive the country as a refuge from the regulatory, judicial and political excesses of the United States and the EU.

Bankers are now worried about what Chinese customers might think about doing business with a Swiss bank that was recently ordered to freeze the assets of Russian customers. What would happen in Switzerland if tensions rose over Taiwan?

And what about a company like Syngenta, Chinese-owned, based here, and a repository of valuable intellectual property? If the United States imposed sanctions on the Chinese economy, would Bern go against one of its greatest corporate achievements?

We talked a lot about politics Zeitenwendea turning point that shook Germany – how the war in Ukraine forced a rethink of the country’s longstanding commitment to pacifism. We could risk that Switzerland, on a smaller scale, begins to face a similar evolution, but in economic terms. Or at least, to contemplate its contours.

The question is: can a Western economy, so deeply integrated today with the economies around it and with the Western financial system, afford to stand out in the proliferation of geopolitical crises facing the West?

This is not a new problem. The crisis in Ukraine has simply brought this to light. For years, Switzerland has been engaged in agonizing negotiations with the EU over the limits of its economic freedoms.

For Thomas Borer, a former Swiss diplomat who not only wrote much of today’s official policy on neutrality but also chaired the landmark Swiss investigation into Nazi-looted assets hidden in Swiss banks, the whole debate on commercial or economic “neutrality” is easy.

Neutrality, he says, is an instrument of foreign policy, not the goal of it. The objective is to best defend the national interests of Switzerland.

The days when Switzerland could economically hide in the sand, he says, are over. “We need to understand who our friends are and who shares our values. Switzerland must make choices.” Swiss companies – and those doing business here – will also have to do so.

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