Försvarsförmåga - En begreppsutredning

Sammanfattning: The concept of defense capability is commonly used in Swedish social debate and within strategically oriented communication from the government and armed forces. However, this concept does not origin from any formally established definition or concept clarification. Instead, its meaning varies, or is implicit, which is unfortunate when this capability needs to be addressed and communicated intelligibly in uncertain times. This study aims to seek additional understanding of the concept in a strategic context and contribute to a future expansion of its theoretical framework. The concept was analyzed using thematic analysis within three government issued defense policy document and three strategic document or doctrines from the Swedish armed forces. In a second phase the concept was assessed using John Gerrings framework for understanding concepts through eight different criteria. The study shows that the application of the term and its numerous attributes is not fully consistent between the government and the armed forces within investigated documents. Hence, the need of a formal definition and a further operationalization of the concept can be confirmed. The most important contribution to a developed theoretical framework of defense capability is the successful extraction of the concepts core meaning.