Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2007.

Counterinsurgency (COIN) has made a comeback during the early 21-century since the majority of western countries have been involved in peace enforcement in the middle-east. Since its comeback the concept of COIN have been wildly debated but also undergone some chances since its early days, today the majority of COIN theories claims that the local population is the key to winning a COIN campaign. If you gain their trust the insurgency will lose their support and recruiting base, this is the reason why collateral damage resulting in in civilian deaths are contra-productive, it creates more insurgents. This is the incitement to further examine how civilian deaths occur and can be avoided during COIN campaigns. This essay studies the American COIN campaign in Iraq between 2004 and 2009 and aims to investigate whether there is a trilemma-like relationship between the key goals of COIN: protecting civilians, protecting one’s own forces and neutralizing the enemy. Each different goal has been operationalized to something measurable – death statistics. The yearly death toll for coalition troops, Iraqi civilians and insurgents provide the empirical material necessary to answer the question if the main goals can be achieved at the same time or if it’s impossible. The essay is broken down into two parts, the first examines whether an actual people-centric COIN strategy saves civilian lives or if it’s all just in theory. The second part examines the relationship between the key goals. The result in this essay shows that a people-centric COIN strategy, as the one employed by General Petraeus in Iraq during operation Iraqi freedom, actually saves civilian lives. But it also establishes that the key goals can’t be achieved at the same time and that each strategy will come with a consequence.

Det civila försvaret är idag i praktiken nedlagt. Livsmedelsberedskapen syftade till attlandet skulle kunna försörjas med livsmedel under lång tid, trots att gränserna är stängda och att flöden av importvaror störs av pågående kris eller krig. Sverige har sedan 1988 årsförsvarsbeslut stegvis avvecklat beredskapslagringen av livsmedel, då Sverige började sin anpassning till EG och EU. Den fria och öppna handeln av varor som EU erbjöd skulle stå för Sveriges livsmedelsförsörjning. Försörjningsberedskapen skulle bygga på den flexibilitet och robusthet som näringslivet kan uppnå i en säkerhetspolitiskt instabilsituation samt myndigheters och näringslivets gemensamma krafttag och krishanteringsförmåga. Syftet med denna studie är att använda Allison teori och förklaringsmodell om rationelltbeslutsfattande för att undersöka varför Sverige valt att avveckla sin beredskapslagring av livsmedel och således identifiera vilka faktorer som lett till att Sveriges krisberedskapavseende livsmedelsförsörjning ser ut som det gör idag. Slutsatser som dras i studien visar att Sverige av kostnadseffektiva skäl och avförändringarna i det säkerhetspolitiska läget valt att avveckla beredskapslagring av livsmedel. Konsekvenserna har inneburit att Sverige står utan politiskt fastställd livsmedelsstrategi och utan ansvarig myndighet för livsmedelsförsörjning i kris.

År 1921 gav luftmaktsteoretikern Guilio Douhet ut sitt första verk; The Command of the Air. Douhets teorier skulle snart spridas över hela världen och han är idag en av de mest kända luftmaktsteoretikerna. I den här uppsatsen kommer först Douhets luftmaktsteorier skalats ned och begripliggöras, vitala begrepp som t ex luftherravälde kommer att klargöras. Med hjälp av stödpunkter som har sitt ursprung i teorierna har sedan en fallstudie gjort på slaget om Malta. Maltas strategiska placering i Medelhavet gjorde att ön år 1940 drogs in i det andra världskriget. I fallstudien har författaren försökt att lyfta fram tyngdpunkter som har kopplingar till Douhets teorier i syfte att undersöka i vilken utsträckning som teorierna är användbara i analyserandet av en verklig händelse. Fallstudien har skett ur ett så neutralt perspektiv som möjligt då alla inblandade parter har analyserats mot Douhets teorier. Undersökningen visar att man till stor grad kan nyttja Douhets luftmaktsteorier för att analysera slaget om Malta under andravärldskriget, och säkerligen även många andra slag.

The case study investigates study association representatives’ perspectives on the activities of the popular education within the social sector in Örebro and why they are organized. It further investigates the cooperation and dialogue between the study associations and the municipality of Örebro regarding this activity. The study is based on critical realism. A questionnaire survey was conducted among all ten study associations in Örebro, combined with qualitative interviews with representatives from six of the active associations. Responses from both studies proofs that all of the study associations are active within the social sector. A significant part of the popular education activities organized by the associations can thus be referred to as social work. These activities are funded by governmental mains in accordance with “The regulation on state aid for popular education”. According to the association representatives there are gaps in the dialogue with the municipality of Örebro, which may be related to occurring changes at the structural level, between the civil society and the public sector. Society, earlier characterized by corporative structures, moves towards a more pluralistic state which changes the conditions for cooperation and dialogue between the public sector and organizations active in the civil society. At the same time, in a neo-liberal spirit, there is a market adjustment of the popular education, which changes the conditions for the study associations, the necessity and demand for social work-like activities at within popular education increases.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2008.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2008.

In recent years, civilian casualties resulting from air power have decreased. Many researchers explain this to be a result of the new technology and the use of precision-guided munitions. A new way of thinking has emerged from international law which suggests that human rights plays a more vital role in today’s war. This thesis aims to follow the new way of thinking and examine if a more effects-based way of thinking has been institutionalized in planning documents and doctrines for two wars conducted by NATO. The method to examine this is a case study of air operations in Kosovo 1999 and Libya 2011. These wars are fairly similar; they were both conducted by NATO and only with the use of air power. The thesis first observes the norm of civil protection in both conflicts. It then examines the degree of institutionalization of the effects-based operations. In this way the thesis aims to explain the different outcomes in civilian casualties between the two wars. The result shows that there is a higher degree of effects-based thinking in the doctrines for Libya, and that the effects-based thinking barely existed in the same documents for Kosovo, which among other factors can be interpreted as an explanation for the different outcomes.

This bachelor thesis is about civilian marching bands in the province Värmland industrial communities, with a focus on Degerfors, Edsvalla, Gruvön, Nors, Slottsbron, and Vålberg bands. Degerfors, Gruvön, and Slottsbron bands are three corps that still operates concerts and performances. The other three unions are defunct. In Värmland, there were many mills that were operating well into the 1900s, roughly speaking there were about 25 mills in various industrial areas. These mills had operations in glass, iron, and paper, each user had a band at least a brass sextet and today there are only eight bands left in Värmland. Bofors in Karlskoga, Charlottenberg, Degerfors, Dejefors, Gruvöns in Grums, Hagfors, Skoghall, and Slottsbron bands. What is the reason that so many bands have disappeared? To answer the question I have investigated the importance of four factors have had for the unions: finance, recruitment collaboration with the music and arts, as well as cooperation with educational associations. The results show a marked reduction in civil bands, from about 25 corps to eight corps today. Factors economy, recruiting, music and culture schools had a great importance and study associations only had a certain importance. Conclusion is if bands do not get financial support in order to conduct business, do not have interaction with music culture schools, because recruitment is done here today. Then it is a great risk that civilian bands are lost.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2005.