The research debate concerning small states and military doctrine development delivers two main arguments for and against the ability of these states to formulate doctrines specifically adapted to their strategic contexts. One argument supports the view that a small state has limited ability to develop properly adapted doctrines because they are influenced by larger states. The opposing argument claims that small states’ ability should be better than those of their larger counterparts due to the fact that small state organizations are smaller and are therefore likely to be more adaptable. These two arguments lay the foundation for this essay.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Swedish military doctrines from 2012 and 2016 to determine the extent to which they are specifically adapted to Sweden’s conditions. Specific Swedish conditions have been identified in order to enable an analysis of the Swedish military doctrines and how they are attuned to these conditions. Findings of the analysis show that one of the military doctrines exhibits a low level of adaptation to Swedish conditions, while the later military doctrine is found to be partially adapted to Swedish conditions. These findings are vital to the debate on the relationship between small states and military doctrine development and expose the need for further research.