Sweden's relationship to NATO - How the government legitimizes its foreign security policy

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to study how different political orientations in Swedish foreign security policy have been legitimized. After having pursued a policy of neutrality and non-alignment for 200 years, Sweden made a decision to apply for membership in the military alliance NATO. The investigated time periods are 2014 and 2022, during which Sweden has chosen completely different strategies in terms of NATO. To investigate how both a non-alignment and a NATO membership have been legitimized, the Copenhagen school and securitization theory will be applied. This theory contains securitization movements on how certain politics can be promoted when an event creates disruption in structures and brings forth actions. The thesis purpose is to gain knowledge on how narratives were used to legitimize policy changes, therefore a discourse analysis is the basis for the methodological structure of the paper. Using the theory and method, this thesis has examined how the Swedish government has used a clear purpose, consistency and a social construction in order to gain support for their foreign security policy. The main findings are that in 2014, non-alignment is justified for Sweden's independence, minimized threat and obligations. In 2022, NATO membership is justified because of a greater threat, values ​​and safety guarantees. Furthermore, the current shift in the international power balance and the tension in Swedish security policy will be discussed.