Developing Under the Influence : En nykter syn på utländska influenser på svensk operativ doktrin

Sammanfattning:   How did foreign influences shape the development of the Swedish Joint Doctrine? The research on Swedish doctrine development is scarce, and when it comes to the military dissemination of ideas to Swedish doctrine, the research is practically non-existent. Data collection has been conducted through semi-structured interviews with a relevant interview group. A deductive approach, using Farrell, Terriff, and Osinga's theory of norm diffusion, has been applied to analyse and interpret the collected data in a qualitative text analysis. There is no doubt that foreign military theoretical ideas and concepts have been incorporated into the Swedish Armed Forces Joint Doctrine. NATO serves as the natural international influence for Swedish doctrinal change. The study demonstrates that all shaping factors have, at some point, influenced the foreign concepts transferred to Swedish doctrine. A suggestion for further research is to conduct a similar study on Swedish military strategic doctrine.