Den svenska veteranutredningen lyfter upp mediabilden från Sveriges deltagande i internationella insatser som ett problem. Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga skillnaderna i rapporteringen av händelserna under Operation Artemis i Kongo 2003 utifrån Försvarsmakten och de fyra största dagstidningarna (Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen och Svenska Dagbladet) samt att undersöka om rapporteringen skiljer sig beroende av om det är en morgontidning eller kvällstidning. Analysen har gjorts utifrån ett narrativt perspektiv och tidningarna har analyserats utifrån kategorierna dagstidningsekonomi, sensationsjournalistik, objektivitet, vinkling och förenkling. Uppsatsen visar på att det finns skillnader i hur både Försvarsmakten och dagstidningarna rapporterade från Operation Artemis. Uppsatsen visar också på att rapporteringen skiljer sig om det är en morgontidning eller kvällstidning som skriver artikeln. Det finns även likheter i rapporteringen då samtliga tidningar vinklar artiklarna till sitt egna och förenklar vissa delar för att läsaren lättare skall kunna begripa innehållet. Försvarsmakten visar på en objektivitet och vill tydligt förklara händelseförloppet. Försvarsmakten erbjuder fördjupning inom ämnet för läsaren och erbjuder läsaren ofta tydlighet med faktarutor intill sina skriva artiklar. / The Swedish veteran investigation brings attention to the problem of the media image of Sweden's participation in international missions. The purpose of this paper is to identify differences between the Swedish Armed Forces’ and the four major newspapers’ (Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet) reports of the events of Operation Artemis in Congo in 2003, and to investigate whether the reporting is different depending on whether it is a morning newspaper or tabloid. The analysis is made based on a narrative perspective and the newspapers have been analyzed according to categories of newspaper economics, sensationalist journalism, objectivity, bias and simplification. The paper shows that there are differences in how the Armed Forces and the newspapers reported from Operation Artemis. The essay also shows that reporting is different between newspapers and tabloids. There are also similarities in the reports on which all the newspapers have a bias and simplify some parts to help the reader understand the content. The Armed Forces show an objectivity and to clearly explain the sequence of events. The Armed Forces offer depth knowledge of the topic to the reader and offers the reader clarity with the help of fact boxes next to the articles.

The thesis works towards a new theoretically informed framework of analysis for understanding the deployment of military operations launched in the framework of the European Union's (EU) European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). This multi level collective action approach is based on the assumption that the deployment of those operations is a highly complex process that cuts across different policy making levels from the national to the international and involves multiple actors from within and outside the EU. As a result, the thesis argues that we cannot understand the reasons behind their deployment adequately by focusing only on a single level of analysis. The thesis then develops a more holistic approach for understanding the deployment of ESDP military operations based on three different levels of analysis: firstly, the international level, where the emergence of events that threaten certain values catalyses the process leading to an operation; secondly, the national level, where EU member states formulate their national preferences towards prospective deployments based on utility expectations; and thirdly, the EU level, where the member states come to negotiate and seek compromises to accommodate their different national preferences towards a deployment. The strength of the framework is demonstrated through four case studies. These are EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation Artemis and EUFOR RD Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the anti-piracy naval operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta off the coast of Somalia. The thesis will also provide an overview and critique of the existing theoretical literature on the deployment of ESDP military operations.