Constructing Capabilities - Military Strategies of Small States in an Age of Transition: Examining the Influence of Strategic Culture
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Scholars tend to approach small states’ military strategies in terms of restraints and opportunities in the external security environment, largely overlooking the influences of a state’s domestic particularities. This thesis aims to explore how the theory of strategic culture, regarded here as an inherent, domestic context in which strategy is formulated, can add nuance to such realist analyses of how small states build and adjust their defence capabilities. Through a comparative case study design and a qualitative content analysis method, this thesis examines the adjustments in Denmark and Sweden’s military strategies following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the central similarities and distinctions between those. The influence of strategic culture on the respective states’ strategies is examined based on three foundational elements, dominant threat perception, approach to strategic partnerships, and geographical patterns and strategic exposure. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that the neorealist perspective of adjustments in small states’ military strategies can indeed be complemented with a view of the states’ unique strategic cultures, particularly with regard to the differences between the two empirical cases. Most notably, such a view allows for a deeper understanding of distinctions in the underlying rationales which guide the development, organisation and mission of the respective states’ Armed Forces.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 60
Keywords [en]
Strategic culture, neorealism, military strategy, defence planning, small state security, Sweden and Denmark.
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-12329OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-12329DiVA, id: diva2:1846907
Subject / course
Political Science with a focus on Crisis Management and Security
Educational program
Master's programme in Politics, Security and War
Uppsok
Social and Behavioural Science, Law
Supervisors
Examiners
2024-03-262024-03-252024-04-08Bibliographically approved