ABSTRACT: There are many theories of which the doctrine development process is described, both in a generalperspective and more specific for either large or small states. Where one of them shows that smallstates have a limited ability to develop their doctrines, and are required to implement experiencesthat larger states have obtained through international operations and war. This statement is thefoundation of the thesis and is used to analyse the doctrine development process for small statesregardless of membership to a military alliance. The thesis compares Swedish and Norwegianmilitary doctrines through a case study to determine how the doctrine development process isstructured and if it complies with the arguments from the theories about doctrine development.The result of the thesis shows that the process is similar between the countries, and therefore thedoctrines are developed in a similar way, regardless of a membership to a military alliance.