A secure or sustainable world? : How Sweden’s policies on nuclear proliferation affect the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract: This thesis aims to evaluate Sweden’s policies on nuclear proliferation and create a better understanding of how these policies affect Sweden’s work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Amid global concerns about nuclear weapons and their impact on peace, security and sustainable development, Sweden stands as a global leader both regarding disarmament and non-proliferation and sustainable development. In this thesis, Swedish policies and statements both from the Swedish government and parliament have been evaluated along with a few laws relating to the topic. An evaluative qualitative content analysis was employed, which with coding and categorisation has delved deep into these dynamics to create a better understanding of the connection between policies on nuclear proliferation and the SDGs in Sweden. From the coding, seven categories emerged; Alignment with the SDGs, Positive Impacts on the SDGs, Negative Impacts on the SDGs, International Collaboration, Adaptive Capacity, Global Leadership Role and Disarmament Efforts.    To provide more perspectives and create a deeper understanding of the connection between nuclear proliferation and the SDGs and the findings from the coding, an analytical framework, realism and the security-development nexus, were employed. These two frameworks were put next to each other to give two different views of how nuclear proliferation affects the SDGs. Sweden is not a country typically examined from the perspective of realism as it is peaceful and not one of the world’s great powers. The same goes for the security-development nexus, which often focuses on conflict-ridden countries or countries that are underdeveloped. This thesis has therefore provided a new perspective of both Sweden and these frameworks that will benefit policymakers and academics in the future when similar studies or studies on similar issues are conducted.