The Sphere of Unsuitability : Why military personnel in the Swedish Armed Forceswithdraws from debating in public

Abstract: Western countries are regarded as open democracies where free speech is viewed assomething that people have fought and died for throughout history; several westernmilitary forces label themselves as defenders of (liberal) democratic values, wherethe citizens’ right to speak is held as utmost importance. Swedish military officershave a unique, compared with other countries, right to participate in public debatesand voice their opinions in news media and on the internet. However, throughouthistory, there have been events that indicate that soldiers do not enjoy the samerights as other citizens. This thesis explores how the Swedish Armed Forces handlefreedom of expression within its ranks and define the perceived existence of a“sphere of unsuitability”. All reviewed cases refer to a situation where the individualpublicly contradicts the organisations’ own expressed views and interests. Thisthesis has identified the existence of a “sphere of unsuitability” that, together withambiguous messages from the Swedish Armed Forces, has led to military personnelwithdrawing from public debates, even under anonymity. The conflict between theindividual’s freedom of expression and military interests occurs on several levelswhen criticism lies outside what the Armed Forces perceive as acceptable.In summary, the tentative conclusion is that although loyalty and reliabilitymay be called into question by the military, it is when the Armed Forces’ labels anexpression or opinion as unsuitable that the individual may lose any furtheropportunities of a career. The study makes two main research contributions. First,addressing how the Swedish Armed Forces deal with freedom of expression withinits organisation provides an empirical investigation of a critical democratic issue.Second, by identifying a perceived “sphere of unsuitability”, including how such asphere is constructed, the thesis adds theoretical substance to a developing researchfield.