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This thesis presents new perspectives on tensions in Swedish security policies from 1980 to 2001, focusing on Sweden´s relation to the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation respectively. This is mainly achieved through analysis of Sweden´s de facto security policies, Sweden´s official policy statements and diplomatic reports from/interviews with Swedish diplomats specialised on Russia. Leveraging idealist and realist perspectives from international relations theory, this study demonstrates, that a general pattern can be recognized in that the de facto Swedish security policies during this period are more realist than the officially stated positions. Up until the turn of the millennium, Sweden´s overall security policies towards the Soviet Union/Russia can be characterised as realist, with occasional idealistic elements still appearing within a realist framework. This is particularly evident in Sweden´s major diplomatic, and later military, support of the Baltic states, which began in 1992 and continued until the early 2000s.