Practice makes perfect : Small states and Multi-national Military Exercises

Sammanfattning: Multi-national military exercises have been recognised to have both military utility and political effects, however these mechanisms have been mainly studied from of major states. The purpose of the study is to determine what motivations Small states have to participate in multi-national military exercises and how they are used as a political tool, in order to further develop a analytical framework for analysing Small states behaviour in military exercise. The study was conducted via a single case study on Sweden through a deductive thematic analysis with themes developed on the basis of existing theory on a military exercise and Small state theory. Press releases and annual reports were scrutinised and relevant codes were identified. Results show that all themes outlined were represented in the material. What can be gathered from the investigation is how Small states highly value factors such as increasing military capacity and interoperability. The major find of the investigation was how Small states use multi-national military exercises is order to enhance deterrence, strengthen relationships, and to increase prestige and relevance, all in the pursuit of security. The investigation showed that Small states are indeed different from that of Great states in how they use multi-national military exercises. Recommendation were then made on further studies, such as quantitative or comparative efforts.