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ABSTRACT
This study assesses the impact of NATO socialization upon an ’outsider’ country, using Sweden in the area of civil defence as a case study. Relying on 33 interviews from 2020 and 2022 with civil servants from Swedish government agencies, the article gives a unique empirical account of practitioners’ perceptions on the interactions (or the absence thereof) with NATO prior to Sweden’s NATO membership, covering a crucial phase under which the country knocked on the alliance’s door. It expands the existing socialization literature by developing the ’outsider’ perspective, while also contributing to the understanding of the impact of the socialization process on a practical level. To that end, the study develops a theoretical framework based on exclusion, interactions, incentives, and compatibility which serves to elevate the analysis that highlights challenges for ’outsiders,’ while proposing subsequent strategies to mitigate them. Furthermore, it unlocks a discussion on NATO’s role in national resilience of present and future member countries.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. “Commitment to enhance resilience” was issued by the heads of state and government participating at Warsaw Summit in 2016, and was followed by the “Strengthened Resilience Commitment” at the Brussels Summit in 2021.
2. The seven NBRs are: (1) assured continuity of government and critical government services; (2) resilient energy supplies; (3) ability to deal effectively with uncontrolled movement of people; 4) resilient food and water resources; (5) ability to deal with mass casualties; (6) resilient civil communications systems; (7) resilient civil transportation systems.
3. And Finland, for that matter, applying for NATO membership together with Sweden in May 2022.
4. Restructured into Resilience Committee as of October 2022.
5. “The Partnership for Peace (PfP) is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Euro-Atlantic partner countries and NATO. It allows partners to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation” (NATO’s homepage: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_50349.htm)
6. Contrary to Sweden, Finland never abandoned the total defence principle and continued to develop it, which is why today the two countries’ approaches to the principle are somewhat different.
7. These are (1) to protect the civilian population; (2) ensure the most important societal functions; (3) maintain a necessary supply; (4) contribute to the capabilities of the military defence in the event of an armed attack or war in Sweden or its close proximity; (5) maintain society’s resilience to external pressures and contribute to strengthening the will to defend; (6) contribute to strengthening society’s ability to prevent and manage severe strains on society in peace; and finally (7) with available resources, contribute to the ability to participate in international peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
8. Previously called Civil Emergency Planning Committee.
9. Both in 2020 and 2022, in-person interviews were initially planned and booked but replaced with digital interviews due to COVID-19 restrictions.
10. All interviews were held in Swedish and have been translated to English by the author.
11. And while not a subject of the analysis in this paper per se, this raises an interesting question regarding the effects of different degrees of partnership (or membership) – a topic worth examining further in future research.
12. A concept referring to the Swedish public administrative model with many (approximately 250) formally independent government agencies being involved in the central governance.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jana Wrange
Jana Wrange is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Science at Lund University. Her research interests include small state security and defence issues. Her Ph D project concerns international preconditions for Swedish civil defence.