The foreign policy of Sweden is based on peace, security, human rights and democracy. In the documents of the foreign policy, the government writes: The purpose of the foreign policy of Sweden is to create security in our country, and in the world. There is no security without democracy, and there is no democracy without human rights and Sweden has to protect and defend these values. Along with these values, Sweden is the 15th biggest arms trader in the world (2015-2020) and has the highest exportation of arms per capita in the world. Many of these exportations also go to non-democratic states.  The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge about why Sweden acts different when it comes to arms trade towards non-democratic states. The research being conducted is a case study of Sweden’s arms trade to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates and why Sweden acts different in the two cases. Sweden stopped the arms trade to Turkey in 2019 due to the lack of democracy and the violations of human rights, but continues to export arms to the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore the study will be using Kjell Goldmann’s theories regarding real idea politics to explain why Sweden acts different in the two situations. The methods that are used in this study are text analysis and case study. The material has been analyzed on the basis of real and idea politics. The main sources are IPSs’ reports, the laws, government documents and parliament document.  The conclusion of the study is that Sweden still exports arms to United Arab Emirates because they still export on old treaty and no new treaty has been issued since 2017. Furthermore, the cases are a combination of the theory’s, but one of them is more prominent in the different cases. Sweden’s actions to stop arms trade to Turkey is an example of when idea politics is more prominent and Sweden’s actions to continue arms trade to United Arab Emirates is an example of when real politics is more prominent.

This study aims to shed light on the ethical implications of Sweden’s arms export to Saudi Arabia. It compares the compatibility of such exports with fundamental human rights standards and analyses the Swedish Government's justification of arms trade to Saudi Arabia in relation to international and local ethics, considering the principles of human rights, conflict resolution, states’ responsibility in promoting peace and conflict resolution and the recognition of people’s shared responsibility for the well-being of all people. It analyses governmental statements, documents on arms trade and Swedish legislation in comparison to their international commitments through the lens of the analytical framework grounded in international ethics. The thesis has been conducted as a qualitative case and desk study with abductive reasoning. The findings highlight the complex tension between ethical responsibility of states in the international arena. By applying international ethics as the analytical framework, it offers insight into the role of states in promoting ethical standards in arms trade and the broader realm of international relations.