Sverige och Nato - ett stegvis närmande : En intervjustudie om Sveriges väg fram till Natoansökan

Sammanfattning: How does one understand Sweden’s recent application to join Nato? In sharp contrast to the last two centuaries of neutrality, the government of Sweden has drastically altered its security and defence policy by applying to join Nato. According to the government, the reason is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However transformative as this may seem, in reality, Sweden had already for several decades tied itself to the military alliance, by conducting joint exercises and military deployments with Nato, among other things. The ever-increasing rapproachment prior to the invasion questions Sweden’s outspoken neutrality. Was their perhaps an ambition to join Nato before the invasion in 2022, or was the invasion as crucial as reported? This study applies the theory of tipping points to help explain the development, and uses interviews with high-profile experts to understand the invasion´s implication for Swedish security and defence policy. A hypothesis is declared which proclaims that the invasion marks a tipping point for Sweden’s membership application, whereas the results point to the conclusion that it was rather a critical juncture, which essentially had already been stated by the government and media.