Whenever I travel anywhere I'm constantly asked if I'm Swedish. It's the burden of most Norwegians. The Swedes have just got a better publicity agent I think.
If you travel to Germany it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden it still has a Swedish identity.
The question is what will Mitt Romney do as president if his policy is simply to be hands off and let the government be made so small it can be drowned in a bathtub. In the 21st century global economy no state alone has the ability to compete against China.