The Swedish Security Policy Identity

The purpose of this thesis is to study how the Swedish security discourse at near abroad (Baltic Sea Region) have been constructed and reproduced by the identity constitution of itself and the two central security actors of the region (Nato and Russia) between 1991–2018. Four periods in the Swedish security policy are analyzed: when the Swedish neutrality policy is abandoned and Sweden becomes a member of the European Union (1991–1995); Swedish security policy faces a period of stability and absence of military threats (1996–2008); the Swedish solidarity towards EU-members and Scandinavia is declared (2009–2013); and the impact of the Ukraine-crisis on Swedish security in the Baltic Sea Region (2014–2018). The study uses poststructuralist discourse analysis to understand how the Swedish security discourse is ordered and what central concept (node) is navigating the discursive meaning constituted as the Swedish “Self”, and how the “Self” constitutes “the Other” (Russia and Nato). The conclusion is that the Swedish security discourse was ordered as hegemonic throughout all the analytical periods but the last one (hegemonic intervention) and that the current Swedish identity relationship since the Cold war with Nato is the strongest whereas with Russia it is the weakest