While framing its foreign and security policy, Sweden continuously uses formulations aimed at Russia. The relations between the two states have experienced various stages during the course of time, with the more companionable relations characterising the periods of 1990s and majority of 2000s, while experiencing a turmoil throughout the 2010s. These periods mirror the overall change in Sweden's foreign policy which overlaps with the shift from an increased focus on the European Union towards the Nordic region. This research is articulated as a single-N case study where role theory is applied to descriptively investigate how Sweden framed its foreign and security policy vis-à-vis Russia in the period from 2002 to 2020. In order to do so, a qualitative content analysis was conducted to explore how Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs formulated the official documents in relation to Russia. From the analysis, it resulted that in the observed time period, Sweden's foreign policy revealed a blend of both change and continuity in its relations to Russia. This was a reflection of a general pattern in Sweden's foreign and security policy, but also a consequence of Russia's gradual turn towards a more authoritarian state. Therefore, this study will contribute to the broader question how Sweden has responded to the newly formed security issues in Europe and Nordic region.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hv-15401 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Kulic, Luka, Kupi, Uran |
| Publisher | Högskolan Väst, Avd för juridik, ekonomi, statistik och politik, Högskolan Väst, Avd för juridik, ekonomi, statistik och politik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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