This study is about mapping out the Swedish General Staff's focus areas for information gathering through the military and naval attaches in Japan between the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the beginning of the First World War. More specifically the years 1908-1911. The study deals with experience management as well as how knowledge was obtained from abroad and what this says about the organisational culture of the Swedish armed forces. The study’s purpose is answered through three different questions, one mainquestion and two operationalizing questions. The method used in the study is qualitative text analysis with a hermeneutic approach. The approach aims to find out what the Swedish military attachés intended to study and what they considered important to report home from Japan and what this can tell us about the organisational culture of the Swedish armed forces. This method is thus about interpreting, deciphering, and understanding the received writings, reports, and messages. The theoretical starting point for this study is based on parts of the book The Culture of Military Organizations. Two categories of analysis from this theory have been selected: performance orientation, which is a measure of the extent to which a military organisation encourages and rewards members to challenge goals, promote innovation, and improve performance, and future orientation, which is a measure of the extent to which the military organisation engages in future-oriented behaviours such as delaying in order to enjoy the moment, planning and investing in the future. The concept of orientalism is also used in order to understand why certain lessons were accepted or rejected. The investigation is based on material taken from the General Staff's Foreign Affairs Department, specifically a volume of correspondence, reports, and messages from the military and naval attachés in Tokyo and Peking 1908-1911. The conclusions drawn in the study are that orientalism was an occuring element, but the Swedish attachés despite that enthusiastically took part in war experiencesand reported home their learned lessons, observations and assessments. Based on the lessons learned and the two categories of analysis stated above, Sweden's military organisational culture could at the time be considered to contain a relatively high future orientation and performance orientation.

Swedish arms exports is a controversial topic. Sweden is one of the world's leading arms exporters. In connection to an investigation conducted by the Eko in 2012, which is a program of the Swedish Radio, Sweden's long arms negotiations with Saudi Arabia. This became a big debate, because Sweden isn't supposed to negotiate with non-democratic countries. The Swedish government decided to appoint a committe to study this subject and come up with stricter laws on arms exports. The purpose of this paper is to see which theory that dominates the committe investigation. it turns out that liberalism dominates the investigation, although even in small tensile characterized by realism. Liberalism is the theory which dominates them abandoned the proposals, the view of democracy as the consequences that a more restrictive regulation would entail.

Uppsatsens resultat visar att det saknas ett entydigt luftmaktsteoretiskt ställningstagande. Istället återfinns en tudelad teoribild, dels den svenska traditionella defensiva luftmaktsteorin, men också den som inriktas mot en västlig modern expeditionär luftmaktsteori. Resultatet stöds av slutsatserna från studien av förmågeutvecklingen, en utveckling som spänner över en bred men traditionell förmågebas. Huruvida ett tudelat teoretiskt ställningstagande och ett i huvudsak traditionellt förmågeutvecklingsprogram, kommer vara effektivt att möta framtidens uppgifter och ekonomiska realiteter återstår att se. / The result of this paper can be summarized in that there are different air power theories in the strategic documents. There is mainly a twofold strategy based on a national non-alliance defence concept focusing on cooperation as well as a modern western airpower theory. The paper also shows an airpower development which focuses on traditional capabilities and may in some way lacking the means for facing possible future demands on airpower. However, based on the results, the Swedish airpower will still be a major instrument for political use in the future. In regards to the efficiency of a twofold theory, based on the assumption of increasing defence cost and varied future military tasks, there is no way of saying what the consequence will be, we will just have to wait and see.

This study in military history provides a deeper explanation of the Swedish military’s proposed  counter-operations in case of a russian invasion against Åland in the 1930s. This purpose was fulfilled by answering the central question regarding how a cultural model could explain these proposed counter-operations. Through a qualitative text analysis of Swedish military documents from 1935, on which Keegan’s theory of culture as a vital aspect in the nature of war were applied, the question was answered. The moralic, intellectual and technichal elements that Keegan defines as characteristic in the Western culture, proved to be able to explain the Swedish military’s proposed counter-operations against an eventual russian invasion. To successfully protect Sweden and its democracy from the Soviet Union and thereby the greatly feared communism, the defence of the strategically important Åland was crucial. (Intellectual element) The majority of the Swedish military perceived this as their  duty and obligation, as well  as something they were willing to risk their lives for. By all possible means and technical systems, even if adaptations were necessary, everything would be done to protect Sweden and democracy. (moralic and technical element)

The purpose of this essay is to investigate what kind of motives where behind the long term decisions for the Swedish military defense in 2000 and 2004. This leads to the questions that the essay is meant to answer; 1. Were the motives behind the two decisions for the Swedish military defense of economic character or an adjustment of security and defense policy? 2. Was the parliament united in the two decisions and if they were not, why? 3. Were there any differences in motive between the two decisions? To answer these questions I have investigated the government bills, private member bills and the parliament debate concerning the two decisions. The result of the essay is that the decision of 2000 was a compromise between security and state finances. The essay can’t define the motives for the later decision. There was a greater understanding in the parliament in the later decision and the biggest difference between both decisions is that the parties who made the decisions in the parliament were not the same at both events.

Russia has since the beginning of the Cold War been a security problem and a threat to the Scandinavian countries, this considered by the countries' respective intelligence service, actors that are analysing Russia and the threat to the countries. However, information about Russia as a threat from the intelligence services' own perspective has so far been limited to information related to the Cold War period. This study thus aims to fill the research gap that exists on how intelligence services currently view Russia and contribute to more knowledge about how they view the threat from Russia, through their annual reports concerning the years 2012-2019. These annual reports are published by the intelligence services and describe their focus areas. This thesis uses a qualitative method to study the annual reports. To analyse what emerged from the annual reports, three different analytical frameworks are used: Buzan’s expanded security concept, the regional security complex theory and the balance of threat theory. What has emerged from examining these annual reports is that the threat from Russia has become increasingly complex and that Russia today and in contrast to the Cold War period, operates not only in the traditional military and political sector, but also in the economic and the societal sector. Based on the intelligence services' annual reports, Russia has increased as a threat and affects more regions concerning the security than its own. In order to be able to fully understand Scandinavia's region and security, Russia as a threat to the countries must be included. Sweden has not chosen to respond to the threat from Russia by joining NATO, where both Denmark and Norway are already members. The three Scandinavian countries have responded to the threat from Russia by increasing their focus on the national defence.

Studien syftade till att undersöka skillnader i framställning i två militära rekryteringsfilmer från Tyskland och Sverige. Syftet uppfylls genom multimodala analyser av filmerna och genom en fokusgruppsintervju beståendes av tyska och svenska studenter. I den multimodala analysen kartlades relevanta meningsbärande modaliteter för att ta reda på hur organisationerna framställer sig själva i filmerna. Fokusgruppsintervjun gav underlag till en kvalitativ innehållsanalys där publikens tolkning av filmerna kartlades med ett särskilt fokus på hur kultur har för betydelse för tolkningen. Studiens teoretiska bakgrund utgörs dels av Althussers teori kring ideologier och statliga anordningar och interpellationskonceptet som det vidareutvecklas av Judith Williamson. För tolkning av fokusgruppsintervjun applicerades Stuart Halls teori om Encoding/Decoding och Kim Schröders multidimensionella mottagarmodell. Studien kommer fram till att filmerna syftar till att interpellera, tilltala, publiken på skilda vis vilket leder till att två olika ideologier reproduceras. Innehållsanalysen av fokusintervjun pekade på att den kulturella bakgrunden kan vara en central faktor som förklarar varför filmerna tolkades olika av deltagarna. Ur ett samhälleligt perspektiv är studien relevant då den påtalar militära organisationers reproduktiva makt över ideologier i samhället. Förslagsvis kan framtida forskning undersöka kulturens roll för avkodning av militära rekryteringsfilmer på en mer detaljerad nivå. Till exempel skillnader i mottagande mellan landsorts- och stadsbefolkning. Studiens begränsningar utgörs främst av den korta tidsram inom vilken den genomförts och bristen på triangulering av data

This thesis, an environmental history of a selected number of Swedish military training environments, is based on observation of military landscapes with a permanent presence of military-related objects and activities, all of which leave their traces in the environment, and how continued military activity is legitimised with environmental arguments. By also observing military policies and documents, I look into how the Swedish military frame their own training environments, and how ‘environmentalist’ discourses is adopted to justify past and present activities. The military landscapes must also be considered in a wider context of geopolitics and security; hence I also include an historical analysis of military land appropriation and defense policy in Sweden. An important contribution with this thesis, besides provide a Swedish context to studies of military landscapes, lies also in testing a historical ecological framework in analyses and methods when approaching research on military landscapes, as I consider this thesis as a pilot-project on Swedish military landscapes providing incentives for further studies. The Swedish military landscapes studied in this thesis have both a centennial and decadal presence of military activities. Some training sites such as Marma and Revinge, which are also Natura 2000 areas, have had a military presence since the 19th century, and the various military structures and buildings promote a kind of military biography, an identity tied to landscapes, reinforcing military presence. The presentation of military sites as ecological refuges for rare species and habitats is evident in the management plans for the studied landscapes. The way military space is understood, legitimised and produced from the perspectives of the military policy level is, as I will argue, centred on two core motivations. First, it is that military presence in a landscape is the product of a militarisation processes, considering a geopolitical context and defense policies. The military presence has long-term effects in form of an alteration of physical nature and development of a high biodiversity. Second, the long-term positive effects, enhances an environmentalist discourse within the military when it comes to legitimise past and present military space, and to justify a continued military presence in a landscape. / Denna uppsats, en miljöhistoria av ett utvalt antal svenska militära övningsområden, är baserat på en observation av militära landskap med en permanent närvaro av militärrelaterade objekt och aktiviteter vilka lämnar sina spår i miljön, och hur fortsatt militär aktivitet legitimeras genom miljöargument. Jag analyserar militära riktlinjer och dokument, för att se på hur svensk militär förhåller sig till dess övningsområden, och hur diskurser om miljövård används för att motivera fortsatt militär aktivitet. De militära landskapen bör studeras i en större geopolitisk säkerhetskontext; därför inkluderar jag också en historisk studie av svensk försvarspolitik och militära markanskaffningar. En viktig insats med denna uppsats, förutom att bidra med en svensk kontext till militära landskapsstudier, är att testa ett historiskt-ekologiskt ramverk i analys och metod vid studier av militära landskap då jag anser att denna uppsats är ett pilot-projekt för militära landskapsstudier i Sverige och ger incitament till vidare forskning i ämnet.   De svenska militära landskapen som studeras här har upp till en hundraårig närvaro av militär aktivitet. Vissa övnings- och skjutfält såsom Marma och Revingehed, vilka också är Natura 2000- områden, har haft militär aktivitet sedan slutet av 1800- talet, och de varierande militära ytorna och byggnaderna främjar en militär biografi, en identitet knuten till landskapet, vilken förstärker fortsatt militär närvaro. Presentationen av de militära fälten som ekologiska refuger av sällsynta arter och habitat är uppenbar i skötsel- och vårdplanerna av de studerade landskapen. Sättet som det militära landskapet förstås, legitimeras och produceras ur militärperspektiv i policy och dokument är, som jag kommer argumentera, koncentrerade kring två faktorer. För det första, militär närvaro i ett landskap är ett resultat av en militariseringsprocess baserat på en geopolitisk kontext och försvarsbeslut. Militär närvaro har en långsiktig effekt i form av en förändring av den fysiska naturen och utvecklingen av en biologisk mångfald. För det andra, de långsiktiga positiva effekterna underbygger en naturvårdsdiskurs inom militären när det kommer till att motivera dåtida och nuvarande militär landskapsanvändning, och för att rättfärdiga en fortsatt militär närvaro.

The author analyses the Westphalian peace negotiations ending the Thirty Years War in order to find out to what extent it had influenced the parallel Swedish military campaigns. In the Czech Republic, it is the return of the broader analysis of this important historical event that leaded to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In recent years had not been given enough attention to these events, although abroad (typically in Germany) the research continues with greater intensity. The structure of the text is following. At first the author pursues the main development features of the Thirty Years War and subsequently recapitulates the way to the Westphalian peace talks since the first proposals for a final settlement of the constantly prolonging conflict after the start of diplomatic activity at the congress in the Westphalian city of Münster and Osnabrück in the (first) half of the 1640s. Then discusses the basic characteristics of the congress, among others also key delegations and their significant (or just interesting) members participating in the negotiations. Thereafter, the text continues to its core section, consisting of two parts. The first of them is about the progress of the peace negotiations on the basis of analysis of each of the main discussing issues in relation to the conflict in the...

År 2005 enades FN’s medlemsländer om ett initiativ vid namn Responsibility to protect. Initiativet baserades på tanken att en stats suveränitet inte är ett privilegium utan ett ansvar och syftade till att förhindra brott mot civilbefolkningar. Brott i form av folkmord, krigsbrott, brott mot mänskligheten och etnisk rensning.Den 17 mars 2011 röstade FN’s säkerhetsråd igenom resolution 1973. Det innebar att en internationell koalition ledda av NATO upprättade en no fly zone över Libyen i syfte att skydda civilbefolkningen från Ghadaffiregimens övergrepp. Detta var första gången som FN och det internationella samfundet motiverat en militär intervention utifrån just Responsibility to protect. Det svenska bidraget till den internationella styrkan bestod av upp till åtta stycken JAS 39 Gripen med personal som endast fick bekämpa luft hot, alltså inte mål på marken. År 2002 när den svenska riksdagen för första gången beslutade att skicka en svensk militär styrka till Afghanistan förelåg inga liknande restriktioner gällande nyttjandet av vapen från de svenska soldaterna.Uppsatsen skall söka svar på huruvida den svenska insatsen i Afghanistan motiverades med samma värderingar som den i Libyen. Detta i syfte att kartlägga och problematisera Responsibility to protects betydelse för det svenska deltagandet i militära insatser. Det kommer genomföras via en kvalitativ, idékritiskt klassificerande textanalys av de riksdagsdebatter som förelåg insatserna med fokus på om värderingar från Responsibility to protect kan spåras i argumentationen.Resultatet är inte helt entydigt men argument med tydlig anknytning till Responsibility to protect påträffas i samtliga debatter som undersökts. Det går även att utröna en förändring i hur riksdagsledamöterna argumenterar för ett svenskt deltagande i en militär insats utomlands före, respektive efter, införandet av Responsibility to Protect. / In the year of 2005 the United Nations decided on an initiative called the Responsibility to Protect. The initiative was based on the thought that the sovereignty of a state isn’t a right, but a privilege. Its purpose was to help prevent crimes against the civilian population. Crimes like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.On march 17 2011 the UN security council authorized resolution 1973 which meant that an international NATO lead coalition could establish a no fly zone over Libya. This was done in order to protect the civilian population of Libya from the atrocities and assaults from the Gadhafi regime. This was the first time that the UN and the international community performed a military intervention motivated by the Responsibility to Protect. The Swedish contribution consisted of a force of up to eight JAS 39 Gripen, with personnel that were only authorized to engage targets in the sky, not on the ground. In 2002 the Swedish parliament decided to contribute with Swedish soldiers to Afghanistan. That time with the authorization to use deadly force if they needed to.This essay shall try and answer whether or not the Swedish military operation in Afghanistan was motivated by the same values as the one in Libya. This will be done in order to structure and problematize the concept of the Responsibility to Protect and how it may affect the Swedish contributions to international military interventions. This will be performed through a qualitative analysis of the protocols from the Swedish parliament that authorized and motivated the Swedish operations. The essay will focus on finding traces of values from the Responsibility to Protect from the arguments in the protocols.The results are not crystal clear, but arguments with a distinct connection to the Responsibility to Protect are found in all the protocols that are analyzed. The results of the analysis show a change of patterns in the way the Swedish parliamentarian’s debate for a Swedish contribution in international military operations since the Responsibility to Protect was initiated.