The working group’s task was to draw up a report that would serve as a source of inspiration to help shape Swiss foreign policy in the years ahead. It was important to me that all FDFA employees be able to participate in the AVIS process and contribute their ideas. The working group organised numerous AVIS events and created a blog that gave the AVIS process a momentum that exceeded my expectations. With this report, the working group has completed its task. The report helps us to better understand the drivers of change. It puts forward a vision of a networked foreign policy that is capable of further development and can take proactive action and respond to events as they arise. It presents sound ideas and recommendations that provide me with a useful basis for the FDFA’s work going forward. The Federal Council has already set out its European policy vision: Switzerland needs the best possible access to the EU’s single market while retaining as much independence as possible. The consolidated bilateral approach remains the best way of achieving this. In addition to our essential relationship with the EU, the report also addresses our relations with international organisations in a multipolar world. The report persuasively sets out our interests and makes it clear that a foreign policy more geared towards change does not call into question our tried and tested Swiss values. I also found the proposition that in shaping its foreign policy Switzerland needs to adopt a whole-of-Switzerland approach persuasive. New technologies, including digitalisation, will change the world: as a neutral country, Switzerland is well placed to position itself as a centre of digital governance. Close cooperation with all stakeholders – science, business, multilateral organisations and NGOs – is essential in this area. Bridge builders are more in demand than ever, not least at the UN Security Council. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the working group for its informative and thought-provoking report. Special thanks are also due to everyone who contributed to the AVIS process. At the FDFA we will continue to work on and further develop this process, not least in order to generate new impetus for the Federal Council’s foreign policy strategy 2020–23. The report provides a sound basis for a constructive discussion on Switzerland’s future place in the world. I therefore hope that it will be read by a wide audience. “If life has no vision, with no ultimate goal towards which we strive, no single objective to fulfil, there is no point in making an effort.” Erich Fromm iii