Austrian Neutrality from the Perspective of the Catholic Peace Ethics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15203/4160.vol53.2024Abstract
This article discusses Austrian neutrality from the perspective of Catholic peace ethics. In a first step, Austria's independence in 1955, a peace-oriented understanding of neutrality and a certain opportunistic tendency are named as three reasons for the Austrian population's strong support for neutrality, which are then critically discussed in a second step from the perspective of peace ethics. This is done above all by contrasting the approaches of Carl Schmitt, who wants to preserve neutrality as an instrument of containment in a world of war, and Hans Kelsen, who wants to secure peace through law and can therefore no longer give neutrality a place in an order of collective security. The Catholic peace ethics is closer to Kelsen than to Schmitt. Neutrality is neither good in itself nor fundamentally pacifist. However, it can contribute to peace under certain circumstances. In a final section, two proposals for a new understanding of Austrian neutrality within Europe are considered, with Austria's support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and a possible increased focus on methods of social defense.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Wolfgang Palaver
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