Switzerland searches for its Wizard of Oz

“If we walk far enough, I am sure we shall get somewhere.” The line from The Wizard of Oz captures Switzerland’s position in autumn 2026, as the country once again wrestles with its relationship with the outside world.

Like Dorothy emerging from childhood, Switzerland is searching for an identity between openness and retreat. The debate reaches from a proposed neutrality initiative to relations with the European Union through the Bilaterals III agreements.

The country is also facing a halt to the free-trade treaty with Mercosur, negotiations over tariffs with the United States, and a need to strengthen food sovereignty in response to the agricultural crisis. Together, these questions expose the tension between Switzerland’s desire for autonomy and the demands of a changing international environment.

Yves Petignat argues that the country’s difficulties cannot be explained mainly by its political structures or its culture of consensus. History, he writes, points instead to the courage, or lack of courage, shown by those who exercise power.

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If we walk far enough, I am sure we shall get somewhere. If this path goes inward, it must lead outward.