A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. A neutralist policy aims at neutrality in case of an armed conflict that could involve the party in question. A neutralist is an advocate of neutrality in international affairs.

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The concept of neutrality in conflicts must be distinguished from that of non-alignment, i.e. the willful desistence from military alliances in order to preserve neutrality in case of war, and perhaps with the hope of preventing a war altogether.

The concept of neutrality in war is narrowly defined and puts specific constraints on the neutral party in return for the internationally recognized right to remain neutral. A wider concept is that of nonbelligerence. The basic international law covering neutral territories is the Second Hague Convention.

A country that reserves the right to become a belligerent if attacked by a party to the war is in a condition of armed neutrality.

Current neutral countries include:

• Austria - to maintain external independence and inviolability of borders (expressly modeled after the Swiss neutrality).
• Costa Rica
• Mexico
• Republic of Ireland
• Liechtenstein
• Finland
• Sweden
• Switzerland - self-imposed, permanent, and armed, designed to ensure external security.
• Turkmenistan - declared its permanent neutrality and had it formally recognised by the U.N.

Countries claimed to have neutrality but not recognized by international affairs

• Cambodia - claimed neutrality since 1993

Past neutral countries include:

• Belgium - neutral stance abolished through the Treaty of Versailles
• Luxembourg - neutral stance abolished through its constitution in 1948
• Laos - the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed in Geneva on July 23, 1962 by 14 nations, including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Other countries may be more active on the international stage, while emphasising an intention to remain neutral in case of war close to the country. By such a declaration of intentions, the country hopes that all belligerents will count on the country's territory as off limits for the enemy, and hence unnecessary to waste resources on.

Many countries made such declarations during World War II. Most, however, became occupied, and in the end only Republic of Ireland, San Marino, Sweden and Switzerland (with Liechtenstein) remained neutral of the European countries closest to the war. Their fulfillment to the letter of the rules of neutrality have been questioned: Ireland supplied some important secret information to the Allies; for instance, the date of D-Day was decided on the basis of incoming Atlantic weather information secretly supplied to them by Ireland but kept from Germany. Sweden and Switzerland, as embedded within Nazi Germany and its associates, similarly made some concessions to Nazi requests.

See also

• Non-belligerent
• Non-Aligned Movement
• Swedish neutrality during World War II
• Irish neutrality

External link

• Second Hague Convention

Laws of war | International relations

Неутралитет | Neutralita | Neutralität (Internationale Politik) | Neutralismo | Neutralitetas | 中立国 | País neutro | Nevtralnost | Neutralitet | 中立國