Sweden Archives - ICDS

From Isolationist Neutrality to Allied Solidarity: The Swedish Road to NATO Membership

When the Swedish government under Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson submitted the Swedish application for NATO membership to NATO HQ in Brussels on May 18th, 2022, it was widely and correctly considered a historic event. But why did it happen? And why did it happen so seemingly fast? To understand this, both the peculiar history of Swedish security policy—or the “grand strategy”—and the recent developments must be taken into account.

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Commentary

Finland and Sweden in NATO: Completing the Mare Nostrum

In the next few months Finland and Sweden will likely become the 31st and 32nd members of NATO. What kind of Allies will they be, and what will this mean for the security of the Nordic-Baltic region?

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Commentary

A Welcome Surprise from the IKEA Guys

The revolution in Germany’s security and defence policy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rightly received much attention. But other European states, like Sweden, are responding in unprecedented ways too.

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Commentary

Finland and Sweden Do Not Have the ‘NATO Option’ They Think They Have

Finland and Sweden do not have a fast track to join NATO. If they apply for membership, they must be able to show they can meet NATO’s political, military, legal, resource and security preconditions, or at least have a plan to address any obvious shortfalls.

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Commentary

Sweden’s Contemporary Security Challenges Based On Its 2019 China Strategy

Due to its proximity to the Baltic states, its relevance to China and its recent publication of a strategy document on that country, Sweden’s policy towards Beijing should be of great interest to the Baltic countries.

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Commentary

Partner Involvement in NATO Core Business

Occasionally, suggestions are aired about the potential participation of partner nations in NATO activities that are directly related to the Alliance’s core task of collective defence.

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Commentary

Military Tension Increases in the Baltic Sea Region

On 24 August, the Swedish Armed Forces issued a press release stating that they were stepping up military readiness because of Russian and Western military activity in the Baltic Sea region of an intensity not seen since the Cold War. The press release raised the interest of the media and was reported by various outlets, including the Financial Times and the Washington Post.

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Commentary

Sweden’s New Government and Its Possible Consequences for Swedish Defence and Security Policy

The Swedish general election of 9 September 2018 generated very unclear results, at least by that country’s standards.

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Commentary

The 2018 Swedish Elections: Consequences for Defence and Security Policy

In some ways, the 2018 Swedish general parliamentary elections defied expectations. Despite intensive polling, few pollsters made even roughly correct predictions about the outcome. At the time of writing, though, the actual results are not quite all in.

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Commentary

High-level Finnish and Swedish Support for NATO Membership

On 20 June 2018, seven Finnish and seven Swedish former ambassadors, journalists and military officers published a debate article advocating NATO membership for their two countries. The article was published in Svenska Dagbladet in Sweden and in several newspapers belonging to Lännen Mediat in Finland.

The article is printed below in an English translation.

Sweden

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