Asia's growing share foreign Asia’s growing share of Swiss of foreign trade trade Asia 2008 2018 11.70% Asia 23.08% The Americas 10.80% Volume of foreign trade CHF 414bn North Africa and Middle East 4.69% Volume of foreign trade CHF 577bn Oceania 0.65% The Americas 14.48% Europe* 54.90% Europe* 72.16% Oceania 0.76% *incl. South-East Europe and Eastern Europe/Russia to climate change mitigation, human rights and democracy. The same is true of Canada, Switzerland’s second largest trading partner in the region. 3.1.3. An eye on the major powers When it comes to safeguarding Switzerland’s interests, the country’s relations with the major powers are growing in importance. Improvements are necessary here. In a world dominated by great-power diplomacy, power politics and unilateralism, an independent Switzerland needs to have clear strategies for dealing with the most influential actors and viable political relations with them. Although the Federal Council recognised the importance of priority countries outside Europe as early as 2005, the approach it adopted of entering into ‘strategic partnerships’ with the BRICS countries, the United States, Japan and Turkey nevertheless failed to produce the desired effect in some cases. Relationships are too asymmetrical and were defined too strongly in terms of cooperation rather than actual content. As a result, these bilateral relations are at times administered rather than actively defined at the policy level. In future, relations with priority countries should be defined on the basis of strategies that combine political, security, economic, technological, scientific and sustainable development matters, with Switzerland’s interests and high-­potential areas serving as a starting point. High-potential areas include Switzerland’s good offices, which continually open doors that would otherwise remain closed. North Africa and Middle East 6.78% Source: Federal Customs Administration Coherence between the departments in their handling of such priority countries is paramount. Switzerland’s consociational democracy presents it with particular challenges in this respect. Country strategies that define clear goals and for which the Federal Council is responsible have the potential to serve as an instrument here. While they may not represent a ’one size fits all solution’ for the wide range of voices and agendas in Switzerland, they nevertheless facilitate a ‘big picture’ view that reduces the segmentation of foreign policy. Coherent strategies are called for in relation to the United States, China and Russia in particular – the foremost powers at present. The USA remains very important to Switzerland’s prosperity and security. Switzerland must take due account of the continuing US dominance of the international order. Bilateral relations are based on a solid historical foundation, largely shared values and close cultural and human ties. An estimated 1 million people with Swiss roots live in the United States. It is by far the most important destination for direct investments by Swiss companies. The United States is Switzerland’s second largest trading partner, and Switzerland is the seventh largest investor in the US and one of its top twenty trading partners. Conditions in the US market for non-US companies are becoming tougher. Switzerland has an interest in deepening its relationship with the United States and strengthening the framework conditions for doing business with it. A free trade agreement and closer cooperation in the field of international financial market regulation would help achieve this. Measured by the number of diplomatic visits, relations with Washington have been less intense in the last few years than those with Beijing. The United States has never expressed any interest in 2028 Foreign Policy Vision 18