The whole world is in “dialogue”. About a fashion term that requires caution.
Published: 12:01 am
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Updated: February 7, 2026 at 6:41 p.m
Reza RafiEditor-in-chief SonntagsBlick
Four hours! Our foreign minister talked to his Russian counterpart for that long. Ignazio Cassis, not only head of the EDA but also recently also chairman of the entity with the nice title “Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe”, proudly stood in front of the cameras on Friday. The aim of his trip to Moscow is to “start a dialogue” with Russia.
Anyone who walks the diplomatic stage today likes to talk about dialogue. Dialogue is conducted with everyone. With attackers and those attacked. With giants and dwarves. With angels. And with devils. Switzerland maintains a “human rights dialogue” with Iran. Bern suspended this for once – after the mass murder of its own population by the mullahs’ regime.
But shouldn’t we also talk to the villains and butchers of this world? Certainly talking is better than shooting. However, dialogue always threatens to become an alibi for the bad guys – and a substitute for well-meaning people like Switzerland, which initially didn’t even want to supply protective vests for the Ukrainian fire brigade, but is now celebrating dialogue with Moscow.
Dialogue is a slogan of the political zeitgeist. The motto of this year’s WEF was “A Spirit of Dialogue”. Instead of the “spirit of dialogue,” however, Davos was dominated by the monologue of the US President – who himself is caught in the dialogue trap: for two years he has been presented by the dialogue-promoting Vladimir Putin, and in the last few days also by the dialogue-promoting Ayatollahs. Donald Trump only seems to flex his muscles on smaller countries like Venezuela or Switzerland. But whoever acts more unscrupulously than himself will be welcomed into endless dialogue.
The undisputed temple of dialogue is the UN. Nowhere is the disproportion between words and deeds greater than at the United Nations, where dialogue repeatedly degenerates into a farce. Except, of course, when our Foreign Minister takes the floor.
date: 2026-02-07 23:09:00
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