Pushes and pokes: Towards understanding Swedish ‘mid-range’ security policy-making

Abstract: Abstract: This thesis investigates the recursive relationship between strategic culture, security policy-making, and Swedish security policy, aiming to provide further insights into change and continuity in policy norms and practices. Using a case-study methodology, and Bloomfield’s (2016) norm-dynamic framework, it analyses the Swedish Parliament deliberations regarding two, ‘mid-range’ defence and security cooperations with NATO.  The  results show how security policy is influenced by political actors, who actively assume roles to defend and contest security policy, depending on temporal and institutional contexts. Furthermore, the study has proven valuable for understanding both what lies behind a smaller state’s policy status quo, and its steps towards more momentous security-policy decisions. The recursive relationships within and aspects of security policy-making, underscores the significance of strategic culture as contextual. The thesis hopes to invite research into other ‘mid-range’ decisions for broadening this insight.