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Sweden's Grand Strategy: Predicaments of a Small Liberal State in a Hostile World
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science. (Statsvetenskap)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6374-5964
University of Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9976-622X
Uppsala University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8865-1443
2025 (English)Book (Refereed)
Sustainable development
SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Abstract [en]

This book traces the evolution of Sweden’s grand strategy from 1945 to 2024, understood as a coherent policy encapsulating an overarching idea of how a state achieves its national objectives. In the book, small state grand strategy is identified through national foreign policy roles which at certain times coalesce into master roles forming the basis of grand strategy. During this period, Sweden’s foreign policy roles were shaped according to the degree of autonomy and integration deemed necessary for security, economic development, and social cohesion as perceived by the domestic political elite. Four foreign policy action strategies building on domestic agency and the influence of systemic structures depict the domestic process of role adaptation. The ensuing empirical analysis identifies a set of evolving roles. The autonomous security seeker, based on a policy of neutrality and strong national defence, acted as Sweden’s master role during the Cold War, complemented by the roles of autonomous activist and hesitant European. After the Cold War, the role of integrated security provider emerged but subsided in 2022, when a new role of integrated security seeker emerged as Sweden applied for NATO membership. In parallel, the role of European integrationist gradually strengthened in tandem with the role of security provider, eventually merging into a coherent role set together with the new master role of an integrated security seeker, combining alliance memberships of the EU and NATO. This role set is a manifestation of Sweden’s grand strategy in an increasingly unstable international security environment.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025. , p. 224
Series
The Oxford Studies in Grand Strategy ; 1
Keywords [en]
Sweden, grand strategy, role conceptions, role change, autonomy, identity, agency
National Category
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Research subject
Social Sciences, Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-134280DOI: 10.1093/9780191982989.001.0001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105015467356ISBN: 9780198871781 (print)ISBN: 9780191982989 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-134280DiVA, id: diva2:1923859
Part of project
Nya roller i en hotfull värld? Hur små liberala stater ändrar sin utrikespolitik i en ny säkerhetsmiljö
Funder
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, P19-0285:1Available from: 2025-01-01 Created: 2025-01-01 Last updated: 2026-01-20Bibliographically approved

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Brommesson, Douglas

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Brommesson, DouglasEkengren, Ann-MarieMichalski, Anna
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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
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Language
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Output format
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