Deteriorated security environment and its impact on perception of threat in the non-aligned states: a comparative study of the Finnish and Swedish parliamentary debate on security after the Crimean annexation

Date

2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Tartu Ülikool

Abstract

It is widely recognised that Russia’s foreign policy has become increasingly aggressive for the past decades, whereas the Crimean annexation in 2014 has been perceived especially alarming in the European security context. This study examines and compares the Finnish and Swedish parliamentary debate in order to determine how the mainstream political circles have reacted to the deteriorated security environment in the two non-aligned states. By using qualitative content analysis, this study reviews three debates of both countries conducted between 2015-2020, while scrutinising the following topics: NATO membership, military cooperation and national military capabilities. The findings indicate that, in general, threat perception has increased among the political elite of both states, which has found reflection in their altered security policy preferences. The majority of both parliaments favoured enhancing international military cooperation, supported measures to strengthen the country’s national military capabilities, and some political actors changed their position vis-à-vis NATO membership. Regarding the latter, the Swedish debate turned out to be more sophisticated and detailed, and there is an increasingly higher understanding in the parliament that Sweden should opt for membership in the Alliance. However, the membership question has also intensified in the Finnish debate but without significant position changes among the parties. This study concludes that threat perception has witnessed a greater increase in Sweden, which was confirmed with the more concrete and rapid responses to the changed security environment by the Swedish political actors. Secondly, in general terms, both states are gradually drifting away from their old, constructed identity of non-alignment which has previously been a central element of these states’ security thinking.

Description

Keywords

Citation