Karl Wengen, the representative on the national council of the canton of Aargau, was at my table, and it was inevitable that someone should ask the question that the Swiss hear every day. “How has Switzerland managed to remain neutral for centuries?” asked Bradley Thompson. As befitted a person who had built up a business virtually single-handedly, Brad was never shy about asking provocative questions. “Four centuries, in fact,” Karl Wengen said. “It is four hundred years since we were involved in a war.” “It’s so improbable,” protested an earnest Japanese lady with severe-looking spectacles and shiny black hair. She went on, “You are surrounded by warring countries—Germany, France, Italy, Austria—and yet Switzerland remains aloof. What is your secret?” “No secret,” smiled Wengen. “Surrounded by other countries, as you say, and at the crossroads of Europe, how could we have secrets? If there is an answer, it is our preparedness. Every able-bodied male in the country starts National Service at the age of twenty.
