Switzerland and Sub-Saharan Africa in the Cold War, 1967-1979

In this volume Sabina Widmer analyses neutral Switzerland’s foreign policy in Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Somalia during the armed conflicts and regime changes of the late 1960s and 1970s, in a context of global Cold War and decolonisation.

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In Switzerland and Sub-Saharan Africa in the Cold War, 1967-1979, Sabina Widmer analyses Swiss foreign policy in Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Somalia in the late 1960s and 1970s, at the crossroads of the global East-West confrontation and decolonisation. Focusing on the independence wars in Angola and Mozambique, the Angolan War and the Ogaden War as well as regime changes that brought Soviet-allied governments to power, this book sheds new light on Switzerland’s role in the Third World during the Cold War. Based on extensive multi-archival research, it exposes the limits of neutrality in North-South relations, reveals the growing marge de manoeuvre of small states during Détente, and highlights the role of non-state actors in the making of foreign policy.