Sverige och Nato : En studie om de svenska relationerna till Nato efter det kalla krigets slut

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay is to examine the Swedish relations to Nato and by doing so see on what terms the cooperation is executed and why. However, Sweden is not a member of Nato and is thereby not seen as an ally of the organization but even so Sweden has a close cooperation with Nato. The theories used in this essay is The Rational Actor Model and The Organizational Behaviour Model by Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow. To this a number of additional theorises are used as to complement these two main theories. The aim with these theories is to see which one gives the most satisfying explanation of the Swedish strategy to cooperate with Nato and still not be a member of the alliance or if all theorises are needed. A qualitative approach is used with a case study and qualitative text analysis of the Swedish military defence strategy. To form this essay a number of documents are used from the Swedish government and its defence committee where explanations are given to the cooperation with Nato. The documents that are used in this essay span from 1995 to 2009 and the reason to why this time period is used is because Sweden prior to the end of The Cold War had a strict defence strategy that was very neutral. After the end of The Cold War Sweden has opened up more to international cooperation, among others the membership of the EU and the sister organization Partnership for Peace by Nato. Further on, this essay also gives an explanation of the Swedish analysis of the security aspects in the world since this helps give an understanding to why Sweden form its defence strategy the way it does. The result of this essay is that the actions of Sweden are rational in its cooperation with Nato on the basis of the security conditions Sweden face. The military neutrality is one aspect Sweden chooses to preserve, and to do so and still cooperate with Nato Sweden is a member of the Partnership for Peace by Nato. In this organization Sweden chooses in which operations they participate. The defence strategy of Sweden is to preserve peace in the world around oneself and by doing so make sure peace is secured for oneself. To reach this goal international crisis operations are performed through cooperation with Nato in the Partnership for Peace. One explanation to why Sweden does not apply to be members of Nato is because of its organizational structure concerning defence strategy. Sweden only cooperate with Nato through Partnership for Peace because the goal of the Swedish organization is to keep the country military neutral. The reason for this is its standard operational procedures which the organization has when it comes to defence strategy. A Swedish membership in Nato could however also be seen as a rational choice since Sweden most unlikely would stand by and do nothing if another EU-country would be attacked. Many countries in the EU are members of Nato which means that Sweden would also defend that alliance. Thereby it would be seen as Sweden is prepared to contribute defensively if a member is attacked.