Well I agree that Swiss cities generally look a bit grubby, but that's a direct result from the politics and situation in the 90's. All Swiss cities are actually getting better, new, nicer buildings are being constructed and generally the cities and towns are being made more livable. There are still many ugly quarters in all Swiss cities, but even the uglier parts of Zürich are gradually improving a bit. The rest of the article is a load of crap, except that our politicians look very provincial which of course they do. Switzerland is no superpower and doesn't pretend to be, so what's that crap of CH not being important on the world stage? We're just 8 million people on this planet, why should we care ? Still the host of a great many international organisations, summits, peace talks etc... I think that's quite ok. Switzerland had a unique position after WWII, it's clear that this wouldn't last forever, for the rest... it's just a lot of contradictory nonsense.