As I look back upon this body of work over the course of the learning journey, I am very grateful that I studied deeply in comparing political systems, economies, and cultures for countries very varied from each other. When it comes to Switzerland and the UAE case studies, the findings clearly showed how two countries, though quite equal regarding wealth and development, often managed their governance, economic performance in wholly different ways. Collecting data, tracking their history, and comparing their political systems and economic activities certainly opened my eyes to how global systems work and enabled me to think critically about what makes a nation succeed or fail.

When I take a look back on the assignments I did complete, I have built up the necessary skills and knowledge on comparative politics and economics. Observing countries through comparisons of topics like political systems, economic structures, trade, and so forth was engrossing because it pushed me to synthesize a broad topic and come to conclusions about the diverging roads countries take toward their common goals of prosperity. Particularly, I take pride in my economic comparison of the diversified Swiss economy and oil-dependent UAE economy, which pointed out both points of specific similarities between them and other concerns. Besides, there was a graph to demonstrate these differences, which rendered me eminent in understanding the economic data I had put together.

In a summation, I would argue that I deserve an A in this course! There were times when I found it difficult to synthesize data across different sources. Other than that, I have occasionally developed an impressive understanding of the countries that I have studied. The assignments involved outstanding engagement into some complex concepts, thinking analytical thoughts, and polishing my writing. I believe that the knowledge I garnered from this arena would pass on to me useful insights regarding understanding global dynamics, and therefore promote my learning in courses to follow.