Chinese pressure, American volatility and the rise of populism show how urgent it is for Switzerland and Europe to secure their shared values.
One often reads that the fate of the world is dominated by the great economic, military and geostrategic rivalry between China and the USA. Recently, this rivalry has been depicted as follows: China would become an electrotechnical state, basing its entire economic system on electricity – thanks to its batteries, microprocessors, solar panels and wind energy (and nuclear energy, for that matter). Wind and photovoltaics will already account for 18.1 percent of Chinese electricity production in 2024, nuclear energy will cover 4.4 percent, and the share is increasing slightly.
The United States, on the other hand, would fall back and degenerate into a simple oil state. While the oil aspect of this analysis likely reflects Donald Trump’s wishful thinking, fortunately it doesn’t entirely reflect reality: US CO₂ emissions have been steadily declining since 2007. And when it comes to developing software, artificial intelligence and high-performance microprocessors, the United States continues to lead the way.