Sweden’s Arms Export Controls : Balancing Support and Restraint

• Sweden is both an appropriate and important subject of study in any comparative analysis of States’ arms export controls, largely due to the strong and conflicting pressures to which it is subject. Political actors on both the left and right of its political spectrum argue that Sweden needs to maintain an independent defence industry supported by foreign sales. What makes Sweden unusual is the level of ambition in its defence industrial strategy and the volume of arms exports compared to other economic and political indicators. During 2019, Sweden ranked 23rd in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 33rd in its military spending. However, Sweden seeks to maintain independent production capacities in a range of key areas and consistently ranks higher in terms of its arms exports. For 2015–2019 Sweden was the world’s 15th largest supplier. On the other hand, there is an almost constant national discussion about arms exports in Sweden and a sizeable majority of the public favours imposing tighter restrictions than are agreed at the international and European level. Moreover, this view is shared by mainstream political parties on both the left and right of Sweden’s political spectrum. This chapter explores how Sweden structures and implements its arms export controls in the face of these conflicting pressures. In doing so, it seeks to connect the findings of the chapter with other studies of the way Swedish political institutions seek to manage conflicting normative pressures. In particular, it draws on the work of Nils Brunson from the 1980s and his notion of ‘organised hypocrisy’.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Arms export controls

Arms trade

Sweden

Defence industry

Arms production

Arms control

International Relations

internationella relationer

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)