MILITIA, NATIONALISM, AND POLICY IN GERMANY, POLAND, AND SWEDEN SINCE 2014
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Authors
Scott, Mathew J.
Subjects
paramilitary
civil-military relations
Germany
Poland
Sweden
right-wing movement
European security
nationalism
militia
hybrid war
gray zone
NATO
PIS
AFD
Sweden Democrats
Nordic Resistance Movement
NRM
ONR
NOP
KSK
Bundeswehr
law and justice
Alternative for Germany
civil-military relations
Germany
Poland
Sweden
right-wing movement
European security
nationalism
militia
hybrid war
gray zone
NATO
PIS
AFD
Sweden Democrats
Nordic Resistance Movement
NRM
ONR
NOP
KSK
Bundeswehr
law and justice
Alternative for Germany
Advisors
Abenheim, Donald
Halladay, Carolyn C.
Date of Issue
2021-12
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Europe has witnessed radical change since 2014, with the Crimean annexation and immigration crisis creating fertile ground for national populists, paramilitaries, and hybrid war strategies in Germany, Poland, and Sweden. This thesis explores 100 years of paramilitary history with particular emphasis on the post-2014 time frame. The historical evidence answers two questions; how paramilitaries are endangering the state’s monopoly on violence amid changing civil-military relationships, and how policy can mitigate pathological paramilitary threats while improving local security given contemporary threats? The region is divided in outlook. One considers paramilitaries a malignant far-right extremist cadre. Another considers them extensions of the military-security apparatus under the state’s purview. Another has societal-militarization concepts that paramilitaries do not fit into, so they are left out entirely. These broad camps represent the respective approaches to paramilitarism of Germany, Poland, and Sweden. These three case studies suggest that militias and nationalism are expanding across borders as a backlash against Europe’s core political and economic arrangements—often with Russian encouragement—in various measures and degrees in each state. Still, the paramilitary phenomenon is a potential source of strength where states improve civil-military relations with prudent paramilitary directives.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
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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.