Can Foreign Policy Posture Address Development Challenge of Landlocked States? Switzerland and Lesotho in Focus

It appears that the gap in growth between coastal and landlocked nations is widening quickly. When examining how geography affects foreign policy and development, there have been two distinct yet related lines of thought but all agreed that costly transit is a result of the lack of sea access, isolation from important international markets, and remoteness. Majority of landlocked literature only emphasizes how dependent the former is on the latter even in the not-too-distant future if current trends continue. As a result, in a comparative framework, the perspectives of Switzerland and Lesotho are more clearly portrayed. Through descriptive and qualitative design, this paper revealed that the charges of locational determinism places more emphasis on connections with neighbors, making foreign policy approach a genuine alternative to address it challenge. If a landlocked state is situated in an impoverished and unstable area, it foreign policy and security may be affected by the poverty and poor infrastructure of the area and vice versa.