A Swiss in Europe

Ever since the end of World War II, Switzerland was often considered isolationist and xenophobic by fellow Europeans. I never really knew why our country had this rather negative image, but this weekend it seems like the momentum has changed - once again.

I'm pretty sure, the reason for our image in the World is to be found in our neutrality, which often was misinterpreted inside and outside of Switzerland and led to different perceptions on both sides of the border. The truth surely lies somewhere in the middle.

It is no secret that the idea behind our neutrality is self-preservation. If the Swiss Confederation had not been recognized neutral at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, chances are that it would have ceased to exist in the war-driven Europe of the 19th Century. And it most probably saved the country from being invaded by Nazi Germany immediately during WWII. This might sound egoistic to some, but self-preservation is what shaped most of the countries as we know them, and still accompanies them today. Thinking neutrality is a selfless act is a false interpretation.

For Switzerland, neutrality too often meant not to take any actions with the intention of not taking sides. But even taking no action is an act. During WWII, not interfering with the Third Reich actually easily led to the impression that we were on the same side as Germany. Not that a small country could have changed anything, but it sure does not look good. On numerous other occasions, neutrality was misinterpreted in Switzerland: We didn't support the embargo during Apartheid in South Africa, refused to become full member of the U.N. and the European Economic Area (EEA). This didn't happen out of xenophobic or isolationist feelings, especially since isolationism doesn't work for small countries very well, but mostly because of a wrong definition of our neutrality.

It wasn't always like this though, Switzerland has a long humanitarian tradition and was a founding member of the 1920 League of Nations. But only recently, the Swiss have begun to realize again the importance of a more active foreign policy. In the recent past they said 'yes' to a full membership in the U.N. and bilateral contracts with the European Union (EU) allowing free movement among other things. This weekend, the Swiss people decided with a 20% margin to include Romania and Bulgaria into the free movement contracts with the EU.

It's a result we can be very proud of as Europeans and it's great to see that our fellow Europeans applaud us for that decision. It's a great moment to be a Swiss in Europe. Let's just hope that this won't be overshadowed by the same negative prejudices again soon. Although I personally doubt it.

The Hope for Change

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was the first African American to be elected President of the United States. Some see it as the beginning of a new millennium. Is it really?

It was certainly a huge satisfaction for civil-rights activists, who have fought for that to happen ever since. The initial optimism has faded now though. The retiring government lead the country into two wars, left behind the biggest economic crisis since the last depression and probably divided the world into the same old patterns like during Cold War. Let's hope January 20 changes the momentum again. Hope and change, that's what has overshadowed Obama during his long campaign. He promised change and he electrified people around the world like no other presidential candidate before.

But can he really change everything to the better? In eight years one can destroy a lot. And it will take huge efforts to fix the mess in just four or eight years. Maybe he will never achieve that. After all, we don't know exactly who he is that Americans elected for President last November. I hope we will soon find out. But I'm hopeful that his charisma and ability to talk to people on eye level can bring Americans back together and countries to listen again. I think that would be the biggest change.

On Tuesday, a new era will begin for sure, whether he achieves all the changes he promised or not. It may not be the start to a new millennium, but possibly to a new decade. At least, that's to hope for.

I Have a Blog

Welcome to my blog everyone. Some people have blogs because they have something to say. However, there is a small percentage of people who have a blog just because. I am one of them. I was thinking really hard about a topic for this first entry, but couldn't come up with a decent one. So, if you guys have a good idea, don't hesitate to tell me. It's not going to be about myself though, so don't even suggest anything like that.

Thank you for caring! ;)