By a comparative analysis of Norway's and Sweden's total defense concepts this study aims to enhance the comprehension of how total defense can be designed in concordance with membership in a military alliance. The observed differences are attributed to dissimilarities in the country´s military alliance membership and to additional case related important dissimilarities of geographical characteristics and historical experiences. The findings indicate that the Norwegian military dimension of total defense is tailored for swift response, whereas the Swedish equivalent emphasizes endurance. Regarding the civilian, informational, and psychological dimensions Norwayplaces greater emphasis on compulsory military service and exhibits limited apprehension for public defense willingness, while the Swedish counterpart highlights voluntary participation and expresses significant need for psychological defense. The study concludes that differences in the total defense concepts can be linked to the country’s dissimilarities and theory of path dependency complements with interesting explanatory power.