The 21st century has brought on a lot of changes in the security politics in Northern Europe. Some reports have described it as a change from sunshine to storm. In correlation with these changes, there will also be changes in strategy and in culture. Strategy can be explained through ends, means, and methods. While ends are mainly expressed in the arena of security politics, means and methods are generally formulated by the military in its doctrines. A country’s strategic culture can also be interpreted through its doctrines. This essay studied the described means and methods in military doctrines through realism and liberalism, in order to establish if the expressed means and methods had changed alongside the changing security politics in Northern Europe. Through this analysis, conclusions could also be made concerning the described strategic culture in the doctrines. The result showed that the described means and methods, as well as the expressed culture had gone through a change and become more influenced by realistic tendencies. This shows that the Swedish Armed Forces has adapted its description of strategy and strategic culture in its doctrines in coherence with the changing politics.

This thesis examined the connection between Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as an international norm and the education of soldiers in Sweden and America. In a number of military handbooks and guides, the United States has emphasized the importance of R2P training as fundamental to the conduct of peace operations. One of the Swedish Armed Forces' four pillars (crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing) is international peace operations, which indicates that training in such operations is of great importance. Sweden and the United States have a positive stance on the UN principle R2P and have expressed themselves in that it is an important tool in the work towards peace. The education within the four crimes that are included in R2P is thus of great importance for both Sweden and the United States in peace work. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to describe and compare the connection between R2P as an international norm and the training of soldiers in the four crimes that are included in the R2P principle. The results showed that R2P contains parts that are more or less prioritized by the Swedish and American military in terms of training of soldiers. It is clear that the principle R2P is not prioritized per se, but the education is instead given in subjects that the principle concerns, and therefore the education can be counted as being given, to a certain extent, in R2P.

Strategic culture is a recognised concept among researchers within the field of War Studies although it is not particularly well known in wider circles. Researchers have not been able to agree on an exact definition of the concept but there is agreement that the concept of strategic culture can contribute to an understanding of the gradual and long-term changes in a country´s defence strategy. This study investigates to what extent the strategic culture of the cold war period has influenced Swedish defence strategy in the first two decades of the 21st century, using Biehl et al analytical framework of strategic culture. The empirical material used for data collection consists of the Swedish government defence bill and the Swedish Armed Forces’ Perspective Study from the first two decades of the 21st century. The overall result shows a significant degree of influence from the strategic culture of the cold war period on Swedish defence strategy during the first two decades of this century. The only clear exception identified by the study concerns views on the relationship with NATO and EU.

Under kalla kriget fanns stora skillnader mellan den deklarerade svenska säkerhetspolitiken och det faktiska handlandet. Problemformuleringen lyfter frågan om även nutida svensk säkerhetspolitik innehåller betydande diskrepanser. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka korrelationen mellan proposition 2008/09:140 – ett användbart försvar och proposition 2010/11:111 - Svenskt deltagande i den internationella militärainsatsen i Libyen. Med utgångspunkt i ett antal empiriskt bevisade småstatsbeteenden som syftar till ökat inflytande och därmed, för en liten stat i Europa som Sverige, ökad makt analyseras propositionerna. Beteendena tolkas även genom två perspektiv; neutralitetspolitiken samt strategisk kultur och identitet. Slutsatserna som dras av undersökningen är att det inte föreligger några nämnvärda diskrepanser mellan deklarerad och agerad säkerhetspolitik så som de manifesteras i propositionerna. Kopplingen mellan nutida svensk säkerhetspolitik och perspektiven är tydlig om än med vissa motsättningar. / During the cold war, there were significant differences between the declared Swedish security policy and the way it was actually carried out. Sweden was not quite as neutral as it purported to be and maintained covert collaborations with the west throughout the cold war. This history of contradicting policies raises the question if contemporary Swedish security policy contains significant discrepancies. The purpose of this paper is to explore the correlation between the bill 2008/09:140 – a useable defence and bill 2010/11:111 – Swedish participation in international military action in Libya. The bills are analysed from a number of empirically proven small state foreign policy behaviours aimed at increasing influence and thus, for a small state in Europe like Sweden, increasing power. These behaviours are also interpreted through two perspectives: the Swedish policy of neutrality and Swedish strategic culture and identity. The conclusion drawn from the study is that there are no significant discrepancies between declared and acted security policy as manifested in the propositions. The connection between contemporary Swedish security policy and the perspectives are clear, albeit with some differences.

<p>In studying the art of Counterinsurgency Warfare we are usually inclined to the reading of several books regarding this matter. Because of this some writers have the power to influence the minds of the reader. This can be of great benefit since it enables information sharing and for the reader a chance to learn from the triumphs, but also mistakes of others. However each writer is the creation of the time and context under which he existed. Because of the wheel of time certain things change, and because of the context a myriad of factors came into play affecting the outcome and product of the doings and thoughts of that specific occurrence. Because of this, books need to be read and viewed from a certain perspective to be used to the full. Out of the large number of factors I have chosen one in particular which is to be revealed in the pages you are about to read; The strategic culture. This work deals with the task of examining the COIN-based books of John A Nagl, Frank Kitson and David Galula in order to see the influence of the strategic culture from the countries from which they were spawned. The result will be an evaluation of the similarities of the writers to that of the strategic culture of their country of origin and a set of guidelines to regard in the advent of reading the three writers.</p>

In studying the art of Counterinsurgency Warfare we are usually inclined to the reading of several books regarding this matter. Because of this some writers have the power to influence the minds of the reader. This can be of great benefit since it enables information sharing and for the reader a chance to learn from the triumphs, but also mistakes of others. However each writer is the creation of the time and context under which he existed. Because of the wheel of time certain things change, and because of the context a myriad of factors came into play affecting the outcome and product of the doings and thoughts of that specific occurrence. Because of this, books need to be read and viewed from a certain perspective to be used to the full. Out of the large number of factors I have chosen one in particular which is to be revealed in the pages you are about to read; The strategic culture. This work deals with the task of examining the COIN-based books of John A Nagl, Frank Kitson and David Galula in order to see the influence of the strategic culture from the countries from which they were spawned. The result will be an evaluation of the similarities of the writers to that of the strategic culture of their country of origin and a set of guidelines to regard in the advent of reading the three writers.

I nutid förefaller samtalet om seger och förlust vid användningen av det militära maktmedlet omformulerat till något annat än uttryck som seger och förlust. Detta kan upplevas som förunderligt, då målet med militärmakt borde vara konstant över tiden. Vad har orsakat denna transformering av att uttrycka sig i termer av seger eller förlust vid användningen av det militära maktmedlet? Är segerbegreppet rent av inte tillämpligt i moderna konflikter eller är det så att Sverige, ståendes utanför militära allianser, inte har ett behov av sådan retorik? Syftet med undersökningen är att, med hjälp av hypotesprövning hitta svaret på hur segerbegreppet används i den nutida svenska politiska retoriken. Hypoteserna som ligger till grund för undersökningen, skapas ur teorier om svensk strategisk kultur. Undersökningen visar att den politiska retoriken kring seger och förlust och nyttjandet av segerbegreppet, påverkas av strategisk kultur. Resultatet visar en skillnad mellan den politiska retoriken med utgångspunkt i den nationella kontexten av strategisk kultur i förhållande till en utgångspunkt i den internationella kontexten. Undersökningens resultat visar även att den politiska retoriken kring segerbegreppet påverkas av utvecklingen i den aktuella insatsen och är således föränderlig.

This Master thesis aims to study how the EU’s strategic culture shapes the EU as a security actor in the Sahel. A region stricken with poverty and conflict with no end in sight in which the EU and European states are deeply involved.  The Master thesis considers the EU’s interests in the Sahel, such as the security of Europe and economic development, as well as the interests of national states as France, The United States of America, and China. Analyzing these interests through neorealism and social constructivism provide insights to the relationship between EU’s strategic culture and its actions in the Sahel. The theoretical framework used to study the problem consists of Snyder’s theory of Strategic culture together with political neorealism and social constructivism. By using a qualitative case study design with text analysis, I study different sources consisting of official policy documents, official statements, news reports, and previous research.  The results show that the protection of the EU homeland calls for external security actions which drives the EU’s strategy for Sahel. By stabilizing the region, the EU can better control irregular migration flows and hinder future jihadist attacks in Europe. France and the US have put pressure on increasing the EU’s military and strategic policy focus, slowly shifting the EU strategic culture from a value-based humanitarian actor to a more utility-based and policy driven security actor. The EU is taking a more supportive role as a security actor by increasingly pushing good governances’ reforms in the Sahelian authorities. These aim to enable local actors to take charge of the security operations in the Sahel as well as combating the root causes of this decade long conflict.

Denna uppsats frågeställning tar oss på en resa från kalla krigets kyligaste period med den strategiska kultur som präglade den svenska säkerhetsstrategin till läget idag med de förändringar som skett på vägen.  Genom att fokusera på de försvarspropositioner och svenska marina doktriner eller doktrinliknande dokument som getts ut inom ramen för det tidsfönster som valts, 1980-2020, skapas en förståelse och en relation mellan det auktoritära och det auktoritäras beroenderelation. Beroenderelationen till befolkningen och omvärlden samt spårbarheten av detta i de marina doktrinerna.  Harald Høiback har forskat inom militära doktriner och utvecklat en teori om vikten av balansen mellan de hörnstenar som ingår eller bör ingå i en militärdoktrin, för att doktrinen ska fylla det syfte som avses. Tillsammans med Elizabeth Kiers teori om strategisk kultur skapas ett verktyg som gör att analysen och förståelsen för vad som har varit, det som är och det som kan komma att bli, ökar.  Balansen mellan det auktoritära och militärteori kan inledningsvis tyckas vara självklar men komplexiteten kopplat till säkerhetsstrategi gör att syftet med doktrinen emellanåt varierar, hur har det då sett ut, hur ser det ut idag, och hur kan det tänkas se ut framöver?

Denna undersökning handlar om hur strategisk kultur påverkar synen och förståelsen av den samtida svenska militära strategin. Sedvanligt tänkande utgår från att den militära strategin är en process formad av intresse. Vid studiet av militär strategi utifrån ett kulturellt perspektiv möjliggörs expo- nering av bakomliggande normer vilka kan bistå med förklaring åt vad som generar statens intresse och ger den militära strategin en mening. Syftet med undersökningen är att förklara hur strategisk kultur påverkar samtida svensk militär stra- tegi. Undersökningen har en kvalitativ-tolkande ansats och baseras på ett teoretiskt ramverk utgå- ende från strategisk kultur som utgörs av kontextuell påverkan, ur vilket statens normer skapas och som formar statens identitet. Metoden bygger på att förförståelse om samtida svensk strategi skapas, varefter ur teman framträdande normer analyseras och hur dessa påverkar den samtida svenska mi- litära strategin. Resultatet av analysen påvisar att det finns starka normer som påverkar samtida svensk militär stra- tegi. Normerna genererar såväl preferenser till den militär strategins förståelse som att bidra till uppfattningen om strategins ändamål, syfte samt konstruktion av det militära maktmedlets förmåga.