Despite the well-established consensus within the Swedish parliament regarding the benefits of trade with China while at the same time promoting democracy, an unexpected change arose in June 2023, when a united Swedish parliament adopted a report that identified China as a threat to Swedish interests. Consequently, this thesis seeks to address the research question: Can the Swedish political elite's changed attitude towards China be understood through the theory of ontological security? Employing a framework established in Robert J. Steele's interpretation of the ontological security theory, this thesis aims to understand this shift in attitude through a discourse analysis. By analyzing parliamentary bills, documents, and speeches delivered by the Swedish political elite, the analysis reveals a gradual transformation in the attitudes of Swedish Members of Parliament. This transformation is traced back to the prolonged imprisonment of Gui Minhai and the appointment of a new Chinese ambassador in 2017. The findings suggest that Sweden's altered stance towards China serves the purpose of reinforcing biographical narratives and safeguarding Swedish ontological security. In conclusion, this thesis presents one possible understanding of why Sweden adopted a harsher attitude against China.

The Arctic region is changing. This is an oft-cited statement researcher, policy-makers and the general public say about the Arctic. But who can change the Arctic order? This academic paper is interested in determine Greenland’s role and ‘actorness’ in this changeable region. Adopting an interpretivist approach, I advocate to embrace the narrative turn in IR as a useful move to understand how Greenland, as a sub-state regional entity, can enhance its agency capacity in Arctic affairs. Using phronetical case study, govermentality and narrative analysis as main methodologies, this study decipher how the Arctic governance has changed and been shaped by different narratives and governmental practices. Greenland’s possibilities to exercise more power have been analysed through the lenses of ontological security theory because this theory is intimately related to human agency. However, this theory presents several challenges that must be overcome by doing a revision of the theory. The final results are discusses in a reflexive manner adopting four phronetical value-rational questions that policy-makers should take into account when planning any relevant strategic action, such as Greenland’s visibility and empowerment in Arctic affairs.