“Partner Number One” : A Political Discourse Analysis of Sweden Deciding to Join NATO

Abstract: This thesis provides a description and an evaluation through a political discourse analysis of the report Deterioration of the security environment – implications for Sweden Ds 2022:8, which became the basis of the government’s decision to apply for NATO membership. The report was made by a working group that was provided with this task by the government; to deliberate on Swedish security policy concerning the changed European security environment due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The thesis first investigates how the NATO debate has taken form before the invasion, and what the main arguments have been. The political discourse analysis presents both a theoretical and methodological perspective, which will be used in the analysis of the thesis. The first part of the analysis describes the argumentative structure of the report, and these results are presented in a figure. The second part of the analysis evaluates the described structure of the report, and the conclusion of the evaluation is that the argumentation made in the report is reasonable. After the analysis, a discussion is held to answer the research questions, which is done satisfyingly due to the findings of the analysis. Lastly, a conclusion is presented that discusses how the thesis relates to the aim of the thesis, the research field and how further research can be conducted.