When it comes to foreign policy, and how to run a country for that matter, the current gang of Republican Presidential candidates could learn a thing or two from Switzerland. Richard Rahn, a senior fellow at Cato and Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, writes:
Being surrounded by countries that are jealous of its success (i.e., many of the current members of the European Union), without much in the way of natural resources and without access to the sea has caused the Swiss to be much more practical and serious when it comes to public policy. They have a national referendum system and direct democracy, where major issues must be agreed upon by a majority of the people and a majority of the cantons, which is slow and cumbersome but tends to mitigate against reckless policies that are often the product of momentary passions.
The U.S. presidential election process has turned into a circus that few would argue leads to the best qualified and sane candidate elected president. Few know who the Swiss president is because it is not terribly important. (It is currently a woman by the name of Simonetta Sommaruga.)
We would have a prosperous and safe world if all countries traded with and invested in each other’s economies; if basic human liberties, property rights, free markets and sound currencies prevailed; if countries ceased to meddle in the internal affairs of others; and if much of the population was armed for the common defense in order to make it too costly for others to invade. In other words if they all acted like Switzerland. It took the Swiss more than 700 years of struggle to create — not a perfect role model — but in total the best on the planet, which others can emulate only to their benefit.
