A year ago we said in our report that we would have to consolidate our country’s role in the international community. Unfortunately we have few successes to report in this respect. On the contrary: twelve months later, Switzerland’s reputation has taken further dents, for example in terms of neutrality. Whether it’s set up correctly or incorrectly is a matter for politicians to decide. But the fact is, in light of Russia’s unlawful war of aggression on Ukraine, the definition of our neutrality is understood less and less abroad. In a world in upheaval, our federal politicians are showing a lack of proactive deeds.

The strategic vacuum is also evident in the relationship with our most important trading partner, the European Union, and the desperate search for a domestic political compromise to get relations with the EU back on track continues. Nothing less than our prosperity depends on it.

Unfortunately, the demise of Credit Suisse is also a new blot on Switzerland’s clean record. From the outside, at least, Switzerland didn’t fumble on this issue. But the government-orchestrated takeover of CS by UBS has severely affected the liberal order in Switzerland, the land of banks.

On the other hand, when it comes to climate policy, this country seems to be well and truly in the international mainstream. Instead of effective and efficient solutions, subsidies are used as a means to pursue inefficient symbolic policies that benefit almost everyone, but the climate least of all.

We at Avenir Suisse believe that steady drops of liberalism will erode the rock of statism. We continue to work against stasis, blind action for action’s sake, symbolic politics, and sham solutions. Our think tank’s goal is to identify developments posing a risk to our country and propose and propagate free-market solutions, and we’re happy to accept criticism in return. We back up our analysis with economic facts and work for effective and efficient reforms that as far as possible benefit everyone – both employees and employers, both the climate and society in general. The examples mentioned above show how necessary this is.

Only a prospering economy can tackle the most burning challenges successfully. The fact that Switzerland hasn’t yet seen the kind of division of society that has occurred in many Western countries has a lot to do with this prosperity. It’s based on a consensus-oriented and integrative – in other words a liberal – set of values.

That’s why we’re repeating what we proclaimed last year: We have to consolidate our country’s role in the international community. We can’t achieve anything – not even our own wellbeing – in splendid isolation.