Role Conceptions in Sweden’s Foreign Policy: A Textual Analysis of the China-strategy

Abstract: Research on Sweden’s foreign policy often highlights its exceptionalism regarding activism and value promotion. Yet, I detect a less idealistic side in its foreign policy towards China, characterized by a protection of national interests. In addition, contemporary trends of liberalization suggest an entirely different dimension as well. This paper seeks to better understand Sweden’s foreign policy through a case study of its China-strategy using role theory. It asks: Are there more than one role conception performed in Sweden’s China-strategy? If yes, which ones? With this purpose, the paper uses qualitative content analysis to test a hypothesis consisting of three role conceptions. The variety of the type of indicators identified in the material allows me to draw a conclusion that yes, there are at least three role conceptions. One of them being the promoter of national interests, a role I not documented in previous research. I call this Sweden’s missing role and discuss possible explanations found in role theory. Further, I argue that co-existing roles causes issues for the implementation of foreign policy. One being the potential decline of Swedish exceptionalism in foreign policy.