Switzerland's foreign policy after 1945 was, as always, determined by its neutrality, but it joined international bodies where that was not compromised. It was a founder-member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960, and joined the Council of Europe as a full member in 1963. In 1996 it joined the Partnership for Peace established by NATO after the collapse of communism.

However, it stayed out of the organisation which developed into the European Union.

Although Geneva houses the European headquarters of the United Nations (it uses the Palais des Nations originally built for the pre-war League of Nations) and Switzerland has long belonged to many UN agencies, it was not until 2002 that voters agreed to join the UN itself.