Amazingly, Some Governments
Are Doing Some Things Right
David Swanson / World BEYOND War

(April 1, 2026) — This seems like an April Fool’s Day story, and I did always used to write those. But it isn’t. And it’s going to be a growing list. I’m going to add to it here on future days, I hope. You can help add to it in the comments below.

The story is that some governments are finally, finally, finally, doing one or two things right. They are also doing hundreds of things wrong — the very same governments. This is not a monument to deified hero governments. Allowing the United States military to have a base in your country and then not allowing it to use that base for a particular war is at best a glass-half-full move, and — painfully obviously — you still need to close that and all other military bases permanently. It’s war or survival, not both. Blocking “offensive” weapons while sending “defensive” weapons to gulf dictatorships, er, excuse me, key allies, is insulting to everyone you’re selling it to. But baby steps in the right direction are still in the right direction.

These acts of doing things right amount to standing up to the horrific crimes and atrocities of the U.S. and Israeli governments. If the U.S. and Israeli publics don’t like the fact that this is now what it takes to do the right thing, they do have the option of preventing the single individuals running their nations into the ground from continuing, or even of changing their governments so that they are not run by a single individual — a state of affairs that sounds fantastical and yet already exists in those nations’ laws.

According to social media, this list should be a lot bigger, but a lot of the “news” is phony. There seems to be desire out there for more such actions to happen in the real world.

These governments have not acted on their own. They’ve acted in rough proportion to the level of public activism demanding that they act. Some countries have seen a lot more activism than the list reflects, though; we can hope that that means additions are coming.

Without further ado, the envelopes please . . .

SPAIN

Spain has denied the U.S. the use of bases in Spain for the war on Iran, and denied the U.S. the use of its airspace for the war on Iran, and publicly denounced the war on Iran as the crime that all wars are. It has also denounced the war on Gaza (having already taken numerous steps to avoid supporting that war, and having cut off diplomatic relations with Israel) and denounced the war on Lebanon, and refused to spend the amount of money demanded by Trump on its military. Spain’s government is receiving gratitude from around the world for these simple acts of refraining from complete hypocrisy when talking about the rule of law or democracy.

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland has stopped weapons shipments to the United States over the war on Iran. Switzerland has denied use of its airspace for the war on Iran.

ITALY

Italy has finally denied the U.S. the use of a base for the war on Iran — but possibly only because the U.S. made a request without enough lead time, in violation of their existing agreement.

POLAND

Poland has refused to send some of its weapons to the Middle East (though they may contribute more to starting WWIII right where they are).

GERMANY

Germany has said a few good things while doing the opposite. That’s progress for Germany, which is ahead of the UK.

CANADA

Canada’s prime minister finally found a war he opposes in the war on Lebanon.

BRAZIL

The president of Brazil has demanded that the United Nations reform itself, i.e. get rid of the veto.

FRANCE

While Trump said France denied use of its airspace for the slaughter in Iran, France has denied that it had done so. Shame on France!

UNITED NATIONS

Yeah, this is the April Fool’s bit — at least regarding actions. But the Secretary General has pushed for peace, has called for the war to end, and has said the U.S. and Israel “may have” committed “war crimes” — which is generally the most any “serious” person will say about the illegality of any war.

VATICAN

The Pope may not exactly be a government, but he has condemned the war on Iran.

IRELAND

Irish President Catherine Connolly, on March 8, said: “The violations of international law we are witnessing are shocking and numbing, but we cannot afford inaction. What we have witnessed in recent days in the Middle East, and beyond, are not political disputes. They are deliberate assaults on international law, the international laws that have underpinned global peace for eighty years. We must name them as such, without euphemism and without equivocation. The horror of war can never be normalised or accepted”.

Here is where this could and should be heading: The World Must Hold the U.S. Government to the Rule of Law