Sweden : NATO's silent partner?
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Authors
Keys, James E. Jr.
Subjects
Sweden
NATO
neutrality
non-alignment
doctrine
northern flank
policy
NATO
neutrality
non-alignment
doctrine
northern flank
policy
Advisors
Looney, Robert E.
Date of Issue
1984-12
Date
December 1984
Publisher
Language
en_US
Abstract
In 1949 Sweden elected not to join NATO and declared a
security policy which remains in effect today: nonalignment
in peace, neutrality in war. To conduct this
policy, Sweden must have a credible deterrent. In this
context, the defense doctrine is one of "total defense," in
which all aspects of Swedish society (military, civilian,
economic) are coordinated in a total effort to ensure the
survival of the nation. But the doctrine may not be effective
without the support of outside forces, and some Swedish
military planners admit that they rely on NATO support
within seven days of any outbreak of hostilities with the
Warsaw Pact, making Sweden a "trip- wire" for NATO.
This paper examines the Swedish defense doctrine in
terms of military force structure, framed in the political
debate of the past decade. It discusses the difficulties
facing Sweden in regard to modernizing her armed forces, and
suggests that Sweden is now, and will continue to be, a
silent partner in NATO.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funding
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.