CSS Blog NetworkThis blog series collects together articles on the security policy implications of the coronavirus crisis from the CSS. See the CSS special theme page on the coronavirus for more.
As a highly developed, landlocked resource-poor country that relies on imports for many vital commodities and services, Switzerland is comparatively vulnerable to disruptions of supply. This graphic provides an overview of a selected number of such imports and more.
To find out about how Switzerland attempts to ensure the supply of essential goods and services in times of crises, read Andrin Hauri’s CSS Analyses in Security Policy on ‘National Economic Supply as an Emergency Precaution.’
This graphic illustrates how pandemic preparation in Switzerland has developed over the past 25 years as a step-by-step learning process in step with international developments. The most important driving forces behind the accelerating national and international pandemic preparations were the epidemics and pandemics that occurred between 2002 and 2010: above all the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2002/03, the worldwide spread of the avian flu virus H5N1 from 2004 and the “swine flu” pandemic in 2009/10.
For more on Switzerland’s coronavirus crisis management during the first wave of the pandemic, read our newly published Bulletin 2020 in Swiss Security Policy here (in German).
Die Corona-Pandemie zählt zweifellos zu den grössten Herausforderungen, denen sich die Schweiz seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg gegenübersieht. Aus diesem Grund widmet sich das Bulletin 2020 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik nahezu ausschliesslich dem Corona-Krisenmanagement der Schweiz während der ersten Welle. Die Beiträge ziehen erste Bilanzen, werfen wichtige Fragen auf und empfehlen, wie zukünftig Krisenvorsorge und -management nachhaltig verbessert werden könnten.
This graphic compares the COVID-19 doubling rates of confirmed cases in different countries around the world. For insights on the structural challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has made visible in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, read the Caucasus Analytical Digest 115 here.
This graphic breaks down the GDP growth forecast for Russia in 2020 and 2021. Forecasts range from slightly negative values to -6 percent. The drastic economic consequences of the quarantine measures explain why 2020 GDP estimates for Russia are currently extremely divergent.
For more on how Russia is facing the economic crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, see Russian Analytical Digest 251 on ‘Russia and the Covid-19 Pandemic’.