Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

During the last decades airpower has become a useful tool for military interventions. Earlier research argues that air operations during the first Gulf war proved that strategic bombing could be effective due to modern technology and precision guided munitions. John Warden developed a theory based on strategic bombing, where he sees the enemy as a system, which is illustrated by a five-ring-model. The theory is widely discussed in the modern airpower debate, and has also been criticized because it has not been proved in any large-N study. Therefore, this essay aims to test Wardens five-ring-model in a comparative case study where two modern air operations have been chosen for investigation. The two operations are Operation Deliberate Force that took place Bosnia, 1995, and Operation Odyssey Dawn/Unified Protector that took place in Libya, 2011. The two operations have many similarities but differ in the time it took to reach their designated goals.

The results indicate that Wardens theory is not capable of explaining why the two operations differed in the time it took to achieve its goals. The operations did not act according to Wardens five-ring-model to a sufficiently large extent when other targets were more frequently attacked than the ones that Warden advocates to be the most effective. Warden states that his theory is very general and can be used for any opponent, but the results of this essay indicate that it may be to general to be able to explain the outcome of an operation.

The wars in the Middle East (Afghanistan and Iraq) in which the United States has been involved are widely debated and often seen as asymmetrically full-scale wars. What is characteristic of these conflicts are that there is no research to map these conflicts regarding the US application of hybrid warfare.

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of US contemporary warfare by consuming the modern theory of New Generation Warfare (NGW) on the conflicts in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The ambition is, therefore, to consuming the existing theoretical starting point to analyse existing research in the field to contribute to the war science research.

The conclusions drawn from this study are that US contemporary warfare is moving in the same direction as Russia. It has shown that US contemporary warfare is a precursor to Russian contemporary warfare, which is characterized by military interventions with special operations forces and fewer conventional forces with great emphasis on psychological and information operations. Based on the analysis of the Middle East conflicts in which the United States has been involved.

Basic training to be recruited to the naval rapid reaction forces.

This paper examines if there might be a need of change in the basic training so that the conscripts in the Swedish navy will be better prepared to be recruited to the naval rapid reaction forces. It also examines if the way to recruit personnel to the naval rapid reaction forces needs to be changed. To show how well the system, as it is today, works, a case study have been made on the Swedish naval mission, ML, in Lebanon during 2006-2007. It presents experiences from the mission that later has been analyzed with the help of parts of the educational material that is used in the basic training.

By this research it has emerged that changes could be made in the basic training to better prepare the conscripts. One example of the suggestions that has evolved is that to a greater extent involve international regulations and procedures in the basic training. Suggestions to change the way of recruiting personnel has also evolved and one example of such a suggestion is that the recruiting process could include a test where the person’s physiological suitability is being tested. A test similar to the one the Air force let’s you do before becoming a pilot.

The use of special forces has increased rapidly due to terrorist threats, hybrid and irregular warfare. This has also resulted in an increased need for special and conventional forces to cooperate. Pirate attacks outside the horn of Africa and the bombing of USS Cole demonstrate how these asymmetrical threats also have an impact on the naval arena. The aim of this thesis is to understand how the six principles in McRaven’s special forces theory can explain the outcome of the rescue operation during the Maersk Alabama Hijacking in 2009, where DEVGRU (United States Navy Special Warfare Development Group) and conventional naval forces cooperated and managed to successfully liberate Captain Richard Philips. These findings will contribute to assess the critical prerequisites of success for special forces operations in the modern naval environment and evaluate if these operations can be explained by existing special forces theories. The result of this study shows that McRavens theory can explain the outcome of the rescue of Philips, were the principles of surprise, simplicity and security had large significance. The rescue operation also shows that cooperation between DEVGRU and the US navy vessels were essential for the operational success. 

The practice of mission command is a central issue in all western armed forces conducting manoeuvre warfare. Mission command is a command philosophy based on decentralized execution of missions. This requires initiative, mutual understanding and trust from commanders in all levels.The practice is sad to be all-encompassing, but few studies has been made on how the practice is expressed or compatible to support functions within armed brigades.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how a Swedish brigades signals company performs missioncommand. To this end, six qualitative interviews with commander on different levels and positions has been executed and analysed through Nilssons (2020) theoretical framework about the enablers of mission command.

The results show that decentralized mission command is used but with restrains depending on if it effects the operation of communications systems or not. The operation of communication systems is highly regulated with directive orders. But in all other activity outside the restrains of communication systems, subordinates have the freedom to plan and execute order after their own plan. Since there is both a centralized and decentralized command structure at work simultaneously these seem to influence the subordinate´s willingness to take initiative and decisive decision making.

In some sense, I have written this book to summarize and clarify problems that I have been working on and researching in different ways since the beginning of the 1970s. However, the main aim, and my aspiration, is obviously for the book to contribute to an increasingly more essential awareness of and discussion on the opportunities and problems of analysis methods. The book is aimed at students and those interested with no previous experience or prior knowledge of intelligence as well as those on the analytical treadmill. At its very best, the methodological discussion has this natural universality. Wilhelm Agrell has a twin academic background in history, and in peace and conflict research. Since 2006 he is the first Professor in Intelligence analysis in Sweden. He has written extensively on military R&D, security policy, regional conflicts and the role and transformation of intelligence. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, and of the advisory board to the Swedish Security Service, and Visiting professor at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the National Defence College. Sir David Omand is Visiting Professor at King's College, London. He was the first UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, responsible to the Prime Minister for the professional health of the intelligence community, national counter-terrorism strategy and "homeland security". Sir David served for seven years on the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from 1997 to 2000, and before that Director of GCHQ.

Since 2010 IS has transformed itself from a terroristgroup to an insurgency organisation that held territory from Mosul in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria. Through this conquest of territory it has proven it’s capabilities in launching conventional style offenses but also it use of irregular tactics and the use of different terrorist acts using suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosions.

This study examines IS warfare between 2010 and 2015 and examens if David Galulas theory ’Insurgency doctrin’ and Frank Hoffmans theory ’Hybrid warfare’ can describe IS warfare through this period.

This analysis shows that IS partially can be described through the insurgency doctrin theory as an insurgency following the steps that it descibes. It also shows that while IS follows the steps it also continued to use blind terrorism and selektive terrorism through the whole campaigns.

Further more the analysis also shows that IS can be described through Frank Hoffmans ’Hybrid warfare’ theory. IS used conventional means such as military weapons and equipment along with artillery, tanks, anti-tank weapons in both conventional and irregular ways. It’s extensive use of IED, VBIED IS used technology in an ortodox way by rebuildning vehicles and drones into mobile IED’s but also vehicles into light fighting vehicles by mounting heavy machineguns on pickups. This study also concludes that IS can not be described as an hybrid actor becuse it strives at building a regulare army.

The conclusion of this study is that IS warfare can be described as an insurgent uprising with hybrid elements.

Since 2010 IS has transformed itself from a terroristgroup to an insurgency organisation that held territory from Mosul in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria. Through this conquest of territory it has proven it’s capabilities in launching conventional style offenses but also it use of irregular tactics and the use of different terrorist acts using suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosions. This study examines IS warfare between 2010 and 2015 and examens if David Galulas theory ’Insurgency doctrin’ and Frank Hoffmans theory ’Hybrid warfare’ can describe IS warfare through this period. This analysis shows that IS partially can be described through the insurgency doctrin theory as an insurgency following the steps that it descibes. It also shows that while IS follows the steps it also continued to use blind terrorism and selektive terrorism through the whole campaigns. Further more the analysis also shows that IS can be described through Frank Hoffmans ’Hybrid warfare’ theory. IS used conventional means such as military weapons and equipment along with artillery, tanks, anti-tank weapons in both conventional and irregular ways. It’s extensive use of IED, VBIED IS used technology in an ortodox way by rebuildning vehicles and drones into mobile IED’s but also vehicles into light fighting vehicles by mounting heavy machineguns on pickups. This study also concludes that IS can not be described as an hybrid actor becuse it strives at building a regulare army The conclusion of this study is that IS warfare can be described as an insurgent uprising with hybrid elements

The purpose of this essay is to explore the relevance of Stephen Biddle’s theory of the Modern System as a model for explaining victory and defeat. Using a multiple case-study of battles from the Finnish-Russo conflict during the Second World War, comparisons are made between the system, doctrines and actual methods of combat in order to draw conclusions about the relevance of the theory.

Results of the study confirm that the Modern System is applicable as an explanatory model since both cases show that the victor used methods of combat more comparable to the system than the loser. However, no relationship could be found between the system and the doctrines used which indicates that the Modern System based purely on doctrine is not enough to explain victory and defeat in combat. Therefore the explanatory value of the system is related to methods of combat rather than written doctrine.

Denna bok är tillägnad ett begrepp som alla officerare som genomgått utbildning i Sverige känner väl, men trots allt kanske inte alltid fått riktigt grepp om. Uppdragstaktik omnämns i en rad olika sammanhang inom den svenska Försvarsmakten och förväntas vara vägledande för hur militära insatser leds, och samtidigt har sammanhangen inom vilka det begagnas i viktiga avseenden omvandlats genom organisatoriska och teknologiska förändringar. Vad innebär uppdragstaktik idag, givet historiska erfarenheter men också dessa betydelsefulla förändringar samt i relation till relevanta försvars- och säkerhetspolitiska utmaningar?

According to the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Sw: Must), the threats against Sweden have assumed a broader and more complex form in recent years. The threats are described as simultaneous, i.e., new, and old threats coexist. This study intends to examine how this new context affected the civilmilitary relationship between the Swedish Armed Forces and the Government Office.

Based on literature studies and qualitative thematic analysis of self-collected interview data, the study has abductively explored the Swedish Armed Forces' experiences and their collaboration with the Government Office during recent years. By exploring these experiences with the help of concepts derived from civilmilitary theories and Principal-Agent theory, the study established close-to-practice knowledge about how the threats have affected the civil-military relationship in Sweden.

The results of the study show that the threat context brought employees of the Swedish Armed Forces and their stakeholders at the Government Office closer together. However, the result points to how the closer relationship has led to both barriers and adjustments, which in turn have led to various effects. Altogether, the analysis points to two seemingly dominant perspectives: the organic adaptation in lower-level cooperation, and the integrity aspect, both of which can potentially have far-reaching consequences.

According to the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (Sw: Must), the threats against Sweden have assumed a broader and more complex form in recent years. The threats are described as simultaneous, i.e., new, and old threats coexist. This study intends to examine how this new context affected the civil-military relationship between the Swedish Armed Forces and the Government Office. 

Based on literature studies and qualitative thematic analysis of self-collected interview data, the study has abductively explored the Swedish Armed Forces' experiences and their collaboration with the Government Office during recent years. By exploring these experiences with the help of concepts derived from civil-military theories and Principal-Agent theory, the study established close-to-practice knowledge about how the threats have affected the civil-military relationship in Sweden. 

The results of the study show that the threat context brought employees of the Swedish Armed Forces and their stakeholders at the Government Office closer together. However, the result points to how the closer relationship has led to both barriers and adjustments, which in turn have led to various effects. Altogether, the analysis points to two seemingly dominant perspectives: the organic adaptation in lower-level cooperation, and the integrity aspect, both of which can potentially have far-reaching consequences.

Ubåtsvapnet har sedan dess instiftande utgjort en viktig del av det nationella försvaret av Sverige och har under lång tid ansetts vara flottans slagkraftigaste enheter. Genom utvecklingen som följde efter kalla kriget, där Europas stater närmade sig varandra genom EU och försvarssamarbeten, ominriktades Försvarsmakten mot ett insatsförsvar med internationellt fokus. Förband som inte kunde bidraga vid internationella insatser skulle avvecklas.

För Ubåtsflottiljens del innebar detta att förbandet anpassade sig för att verka utanför Sveriges territorium och på så vis skapa legitimitet för sin fortsatta existens. Samtidigt påbörjades arbetet med att ta fram nästa generations ubåtar, som senare blev A26/Blekingeklassen. Då några direkta nationella hot inte längre förelåg designades dessa med färre torpedtuber och istället med en sluss för slussning av dykare och farkoster.

Bakom ett beslut som detta finns flera aktörer, men på vilket sätt har dessa kunnat påverka designvalen för Blekinge? Genom att analysera projektet med hjälp av teorier kring beslutsfattande och drivkrafter har denna undersökning studerat vad som påverkat gjorda val.

Undersökningens resultat visar att det funnits olika drivkrafter under projektets gång, men att de övergripande har varit rationellt aktörsagerande för att uppnå vinstsatisfiering både för Sverige som nation, men också för de enskilda aktörerna. Det har dock förekommit maktkamp mellan staten och försvarsindustrin samt stigberoende och byråkratiska inslag i form av handlande enligt tidigare uppgjorda rutiner.

The purpose of this paper is to further deepen the knowledge about defence against amphibious assaults. Few theorists have embarked on the task to describe what it takes to defend against an amphibious assault. Due to the few cases with a successful outcome in favor of the defender, a severe lack of empirical proof for the theories exists. The paper has through a method of theory development created three different hypotheses from a study of the existing theoretical framework. These hypotheses then went through a theory test to try and falsify their impact corresponding to two cases with a successful outcome from the defenders perspective. The results of this study shows that the factors Deny sea – and air control and Clear command contribute to the successful defence against an amphibious assault. The factor Target priority was through the test falsified in its original description and changed in order to advance the theory further.

Surprise as a method for achieving success in combat has been a key factor since the dawn of warfare. This study has analyzed what key factors are needed to achieve strategic surprise by examining existing theories on the subject by applying them on two strategic surprise operations during the second World War. The study has combined several of the best known military theorists understanding of surprise to an analytical framework that was applied to the two cases. The results show that existing theories on surprise has the ability to explain how strategic surprise is achieved but not all given indicators were met. Deception, secrecy, originality and speed was shown to be the four key factors needed. Planning and implementing these factors during the operation will increase the chance of achieving strategic surprise and prevent the enemy from detecting and successfully deploying its troops to intercept the incoming offensive.       

In the invasion of Normandy in 1944 a reinforced company from the British 6th Airborne Division conducted a special operation with the purpose to capture intact two road bridges. By capturing the two bridges the British force had the task to protect the 3rd Division landing on Sword Beach. The operation was achieved in ten minutes and with low losses from the British force. How was it possible that a reinforced company could achieve success during a gliderassault against a prepared and heavily defended German force?

The purpose of this thesis is to explain what made Operation Deadstick a successful mission. To analyze this William H. McRaven´s three principles simplicity, repetition and surprise and Stephan Biddles`s theory of the modern system will be used in a case study.

The findings shows that McRavens principles can explain how the British force could succeed in the assault by the principle of simplicity thru the good intelligence and by the principle of repetition when comprehensive exercise was conducted. Biddle´s theory on the modern system can also to some extent explain how the British force could succeed in the assault by using tactical methods to seize the two bridges.

Today there is largely a lack of publications regarding mine dispensers and the indirect effects of mines, which this report aims to investigate. In the report several simplified tactical scenarios are created, where the method of mine laying varies to simulate which combat effectiveness the minefields create. A hypothesis about the combat effectiveness is made before the simulations and is used in a game theoretical analysis of our own and the opponent’s choices in the scenarios. From the game theoretical analysis the report is able to conclude which indirect effects a mine dispenser could have in practice, such as binding the opponent’s minefield breaching resources, improving our readiness to mine quickly, and to lower the opponent’s reaction- and replanning time when met with a minefield.

According to the report, mine dispensers do not provide better combat effectiveness than manually placed mines when we have lots of time for preparations. Mine dispensers can however provide a raise in ability when we for example have little time for preparations or when we need to maintain a high flexibility in where to mine, and could well complement today’s methods for mine laying.

The report also illuminates the limitations of the simulation software available today, and contributed to the Swedish Defence Research Agency’s further development of the software to better simulate the effects of minefields in the future.

How airpower should be utilized for best effect in counterinsurgency operations is widely debated. According to David Jordan the most important contribution of airpower abilities in these situations is through assisting roles. Such as providing enhanced mobility, better observation and a third category including the importance of presence, harassment and the delivery of direct force.

This thesis aims to investigate if those abilities proves to be a significant contribution to a modern counterinsurgency in accordance with a theoretical framework based on papers written by Jordan and Derek Read. It does so through a case study research on operation Atalanta.

The result of the study indicates that airpower did support the operation in a way that was critical for success in deterring pirate attacks. The most prominent attributes are those of the third category: presence, harassment and the delivery of direct force. The second category was vital as well, the use of airpower provided the operation with intelligence and information through its capability for observation. There is not, however, enough material to completely support the theoretical framework that airpower was crucial in enhancing the operations mobility in operation Atalanta. 

Betydelsen av god anda och stridsmoral för att nå framgång i strid är vida omskrivet historiskt av såväl fältherrar som krigsvetare. Militärt tänkande har alltid strävat mot att finna svar på hur seger uppnås, vilket renderat i krigföringsprinciper. En av krigföringsprinciperna utgörs av ”Principen om god anda”, vilken innefattar bland annat vilja och stridsmoral. God anda är väl beforskat, men inte ur och mot en svensk kontext. Om god andas betydelse och påverkan för svensk personal i stridssituationer bättre kan förstås kan detta också påverka vikten av att beakta krigföringsprincipen och att ge god anda mer central roll och betydelse.

Studiens syfte är att få djupare förståelse för hur god anda uppfattas och värderas hos svensk militär personal med erfarenheter av skarpa stridssituationer. Genom en induktiv ansats, exploration och en empiriskt grundad teori skapas denna förståelse.

Resultatet visar att god anda uppfattas och förstås som en förmågeskapande process som utgör grunden till, och har direkt påverkan på enhetens förmåga. Enheter med stridserfarenhet kan nå en djupare god anda, och därmed även nå längre och djupare i den förmågeskapande processen. Resultatet visar även att god anda värderas som en mycket viktig grund till att skapa förutsättningar för effektivitet och framgång i strid. En slutsats är att betydelsen av god anda är undervärderad som krigföringsprincip och förmågeskapande process i svenska doktriner och reglementen. Detta genom att resultatet, styrkt i tidigare forskning, tydligt visar på hur god anda utgör grundfundamentet till effektivitet och förmåga i strid.

John A. Warden III is renowned as one of the theorists closest to devising a new paradigm in air power. His praised theory about the enemy as a system has showed applicable on terrorist organizations amongst other areas.

The most recent developed domain for warfare is the so-called “cyberspace”. There is an on-going debate concerning the importance and definition of this domain and furthermore what potential and challenges it withholds as a future arena for warfare. Some claims that a cyberattack can’t be seen as an act of war due to its lack of physical violence.

Previous research show however a lack in application of theories within this domain. This thesis therefore aims to examine to which extent Warden’s theory of the enemy as a system could be applied to the cyberattack known as Stuxnet.

Results show that Warden’s theory have some applicatory power on the cyberattack Stuxnet, although primarily in an indirect aspect. This study therefore shows an ability concerning the theory’s applicatory power on other areas than air power.

The findings of the research regarding previous arguments about cyberwar also states that a cyberattack now could be seen as physical violent.

Airpower throughout history struggled with the same weakness regarding the ability to protect its flying assets on the ground. At a time when the West waged wars against low-tech adversaries, one easy solution was to distance the airbases and the operational area. Now with an emerging threat that cannot be distanced the airbase security is again an issue at stake. 

This thesis examines airbase security and threats towards airbases in the Swedish Airforce through the lens of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The results show that military personnel see protection of their airbases as overlooked, facing a potential aggressor. There is a need for a better understanding of the threat on a lower organizational level and problem areas such as infrastructure can be explained by an absence of a potential threat. The findings strengthen the Swedish Armed Forces view that there is a need of better security for the Airforce airbases

Uppsatsen tar sitt avstamp i den ojämna könsfördelningen inom officerskåren i Försvarsmakten och organisationens målsättning att motverka densamma. Då yrkesvalet har blivit möjligt för kvinnor först i modern tid ingår de inte heller i den klassiska teorin som avhandlar det militära yrkesvalet. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utöka förståelsen för kvinnors val att bli sjöofficer i Sverige under perioden 1978 till 2020. Detta undersöks genom en kvalitativ tolkande ansats och metoden tematisk analys. Resultatet tyder på att två olika teman präglar kvinnors val att bli sjöofficer; bakomliggande faktorer och inflytelsefaktorer under tjänstgöring. Dessa två teman med underliggande och empiriskt underbyggda kategorier och koder analyseras genom ett ramverk av teori om yrkesval och militärsociologisk teori. Analysen leder till slutsatsen att kvinnors val att bli sjöofficer kan förstås som en samklang mellan individ och organisation. Organisationens (direkta eller indirekta) kommunikation attraherar en viss typ av individ. Då individens personlighet och intresse överensstämmer med organisationens förväntningar skapas en miljö i vilken individen trivs, socialiseras och breddar sina motiv och drivkrafter för att slutligen göra valet att bli sjöofficer. 

This essay starts out in the problems that have risen involving military science and modern warfare. The principles of war were selected as the topic of research and through a discussion the thesis question was set out to be:

Which differences can be found between the theoretical explanations of the principles of war and the application that is made within the Swedish surface warfare system today?

 Limitations were set to be the Swedish surface warfare system, peacekeeping operations, and the operational and tactical levels of warfare. Since academics argue which the “real” principles of war are, this essay defined them as the ones found in the Swedish Maritime Operational Doctrine. These principles are: define an objective and stand true to it, good morale, offensive action, security, surprise, organization, concentration of forces, economy of force, tactical adaptation and organisation.

Through a qualitative method, including the techniques interviews and literature studies, the essay formed a basis for theory and empirics. A critical discussion concerning sources, as well as the terms validity and generalisability, concluded the method chapter. The theory chapter presented the theoretical picture of the selected principles from the selected literature. Following chapter provided a historical example and the modern views of each principle.

Through a discussion, five of the ten principles were accepted as applicable today. The other five, define an objective and stand true to it, offensive action, concentration of force, surprise, and security were determined to differ, each in its own way, from theory. Hence, a further study upon the subject was suggested to investigate the same topic on alternate arena as well as a closer look upon the four differing principles.

Nya hot gör sig ständigt påtagliga där asymmetriska inslag blir alltmer förekommande. Luftmakt finns idag som ett kraftfullt maktmedel i de allra flesta stater men det finns få luftmaktsteorier ämnade för kvantitativt underlägsna stater. Luftmaktsteorier är relevanta för staters luftmaktsstrategier då teorier skänker svar till varför vi utbildas och tränas på ett visst sätt. The Underdog´s model, en luftmaktsteori gällande asymmetrisk luftmakt, påvisar teoretiskt hur kvantitativt underlägsna stater kan öka sina chanser mot en överlägsen motståndare genom att använda sina resurser på bästa sätt.

Syftet med denna studie är att teoripröva ”The Underdog´s model” och undersöka dess validitet. Genom att pröva denna luftmaktsteori utifrån två fall, Sexdagarskriget 1967 och Gulfkriget 1990–1991, kan även ny kunskap om asymmetriska luftmaktskonflikter skapas. Fallen studeras utifrån ett luftmaktsperspektiv.

Studiens resultat visar på att chanserna för en stat kan öka om teorins sex faktorer uppfylls och den underlägsna staten presterar bättre än sin motståndare, teorins validitet bedöms som stor. Däremot kan inte analysen med säkerhet säga om det finns andra aspekter som kan vara avgörande för en stats framgång som inte analyseras under teorins framträdande faktorer.

På vilket sätt skiljer sig de militära domänernas förmåga att bidra till framgång vid tvångsmaktsförsök? Vad förklarar skillnaden? Tidigare forskning menar att det finns skillnader som systematiskt går att förklara utifrån perspektivet att: mindre kostsamma hot leder till bristande trovärdighet och således liten sannolikhet för framgång.

Studien undersöker dessa två frågor genom en kvantitativ empirisk analys utifrån historiska observationer och genomför en teoretisk prövning utifrån ett kontrasterande perspektiv till tidigare forskning; ett mindre kostsamt hot bidrar till hög trovärdighet utifrån Daryl G. Press teori.

Resultatet från denna studie visar att det finns tydliga skillnader mellan domänernas effekt för framgång inom det empiriska underlaget. Dessa skillnader är föränderliga inom den undersökta perioden. Efter andra världskrigets slut framstår marina- och luftstridskrafter ha ett mer tydligt samband med framgångsrik tvångsmakt relativt markdomänen.

Press teori predikterar utfallet med tillräcklig säkerhet för att ifrågasätta tidigare forsknings slutsatser kring bristande trovärdighet som effekt av minde kostsamma hot.

This essay aims to study which personality types primarily distinguish their interest in continued employment within the Armed Forces, as well as whether there are other clear motivating factors that can be clearly identified. This is investigated deductively through a qualitative interview study where the theory is used as a speaking partner. John L. Holland's RIASEC theory is used as a guiding framework, where the theory's six personality categories are used as a guide throughout the study. These categories form the basis of the study's interview questions and analysis tools. The results indicate that there are at least two clear personality categories represented by those seeking employment in the Armed Forces. In addition to these categories, additional motivating factors are identified that increase the understanding of what drives these individuals towards a military professional career.

War is rarely fought on equal terms. On the contrary, before an upcoming war, stronger actors are often predicted to be the winner against the weaker one. History offers several examples that this isn’t always the case, if the weaker actor plays their cards well. Sweden’s military-strategic doctrine (MSD 16) describes the will, in case of being attacked, to win togheter with other actors - or to avoid defeat on it’s own. These descriptions are eerily similair to the German invasion of Norway 1940 and the Winter War 1939 – 1940. Supported by the Allies, Norway didn’t win, which led to a German occupation. Finland, on it’s own, avoided defeat, rendering in a draw against the Soviet Union.

The study’s aim is to test Arreguín-Toft’s Strategic Interaction theory. Furthermore, the study aims to shed light on the strategic methods that resultet in success and adversity, in relation to the weak actor’s strategic goals.

The results show that the Strategic interaction theory can explain the outcome of the conflicts to a certain degree. Success and adversity are both identified in the cases and serves as empirical basis that, to a certain degree, supports the will of the Swedish military-strategic doctrine. 

During the national preparedness in Sweden, 1939-1945, the new dimensions of the “Total war” pushed for a build-up of a Civil defence that could help to reduce effects on the civil population if Sweden were put under attack. This thesis poses the question of how women’s roles in the Civil defence were motivated and driven by the state and women’s defence organisations. It aims to further give knowledge to how social and economic constraints have shaped renegotiation processes of women’s roles in times of national crisis. It finds that the state and women´s defence organisations both evoked and dismissed women’s engagement in the Civil defence. Women were expected to contribute to specific assignments but were not admitted and obliged to the duties on the same terms as men. Women’s roles in the Civil defence changed over time; this can be derived from the increased threat of war and the augmented pressure to provide reserve labour to industries and the defence.

Vill du använda dig av tematisk analys i din forskning eller uppsats, men vet inte riktigt hur det går till? Här får du hjälp – hands-on! Tematisk analys är en av de mest använda metoderna vid analys av data som genereras från intervjuer, litteratur och officiella dokument. Men trots att metoden är så populär har det hittills saknats en lärobok på svenska som särskilt fokuserar på den tematiska analysens olika steg. Den här boken behandlar alla delar vid undersökningar och uppsatsskrivande som tar sin utgångspunkt i tematisk analys, och på så sätt kompletterar den mer generella metodböcker. Den fungerar också som stöd för lärare vid handledning av examensarbeten på alla nivåer. Boken är av praktisk karaktär och innehåller ett stort antal illustrerande exempel och steg-för-steg-instruktioner.

This study aims to deepen the understanding of processes that affect collaboration between professions and organisations in the crisis preparedness domain from a gender perspective. A total of twenty-three Swedish duty officers participated in the study. The analysis of the interviews show that collaboration can be understood as (a) the militarisation of civil crisis management actors, which means that many of the work processes and cultures that originate in military organisations can now be found in the security and crisis management sector; (b) the masculinisation, which means that when male dominance appears to prevail, active strategies are used against women, civilian personnel and also inexperienced colleagues and (c) organisational exclusion which emerges particularly in situations where collaboration between female-dominated and male-dominated organisations are required. The findings are important for crisis preparedness research and practice and should work in favour of evening out asymmetries in collaborative crisis management.

This article explores individual resistance related to a military organization’s gender equality work as expressed in online contexts. Resistance is explained as expressions of wider social conflicts, grounded in experiences of threats towards military masculinities, challenged by societal and political transformation processes perceived as feminine. The data consists of defence-related blogs and comments. A thematic analysis finds that individual resistance can be understood as blaming and shaming strategies. Five sub-themes are identified: blaming the “feminised” organization, blaming and shaming women’s abilities to serve, individualisation of structural problems, verbal violence and violations, and objectification of men working with and supporting gender equality initiatives. The analysis exemplifies how social conflict is transferred to organizations through individual resistance. As gender equality policies are questioned, organizations need to confront resistance also within the online context.

This article problematizes the relationship between teachers as an occupational group and the security- and crisis management field, and argue that this relationship can be expected to influence the former’s working environment. Drawing on a literature study, the analysis finds two major potential challenges: a) work environment problems related to the new teacher’s role and b) gender aspects highlighted through this connection. This occupational group may be faced with new tasks that have traditionally been managed by rescue services or police. In this context notions of gender are actualized. Female dominated occupational groups risk being subordinated. Municipal resource allocation processes has so far excluded teachers in relation to security and crisis-management tasks, which can increase problems in relation to work environment.

Recruitment is one of the Swedish Armed Forces’ (SAF) main challenges today. Recruiting more women into the organization is one of the organization’s aims, as well as providing them with more opportunities for career development. The purpose of this article is to gain a deeper understanding of how female military officers perceive barriers and advantages on their way to higher leadership positions. A total of 10 women from a variety of backgrounds and positions in the armed forces were interviewed. Their ranks ranged from Captain to Colonel and they represented army, naval units and air force. The interviews were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. The qualitative analysis resulted in two main themes: Supporting visibility of women as leaders and differentiation of women as leaders. The former concerns positive strategies on an individual and organizational level that support an increase in the number of female leaders in the SAF, and is a way of responding to political incitements and the SAF’s fundamental values. The second concerns ways how women are portrayed as different and divergent from the male standard. The suggested model may be valuable in recruitment, educational settings and leader development of high-level military officers from a gender perspective.

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of Swedish officers when serving as the only Swedes in a multinational staff context. The methodological approach was qualitative and inductive according to the Grounded Theory method, and the empirical material is based on twenty completed interviews. The informants possessed a wide range of experience in a number of leadership positions as well as extensive participation in international operations.The building of contextual self-esteem is the central theme that emerged inthe data analysis that may improve our understanding of officers serving as the only Swedes on an international staff. Contextual self-esteem and its structure can be understood through the following four processes: interpretation, adaptation, influence, and withdrawal. These occur to a greater or lesser extent depending upon both the individual and the context. Contextual self-esteem increases over time as experience of international operations expands. The longer the duration of a mission, the greater the influence becomes in contrast to adaptation, although all the processes are significant.The findings may be valuable in educational settings regarding challenges faced while serving alone during international military missions in multinational contexts.

The armed forces in virtually all countries are traditionally male-dominated organisations. Military rangers constitute an elite unit whose chief skills and capabilities centre on unconventional warfare and intelligence gathering in enemy territory, as well as conducting low-intensity warfare. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the process of becoming a military ranger and what it means to be one in this context from a masculinity perspective. The study was carried out with informants from three military ranger units in Sweden: the Army’s ranger battalion, parachuting rangers from an airborne battalion and intelligence battalion, and coastal rangers. In total, 28 informants participated in the study. All of them were men. A qualitative analysis resulted in a model where the core variable was labelled on becoming a ranger through reproducing masculinity as a form of emotional regime. This core variable is built up by three different strategies, each of which contains a number of actions: building social identity by means of coolness strategies, observing symbols and rituals to build a sense of pride and building cohesion to maintain group intimacy, and emotionally exclude the external environment

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att få djupare förståelse för förskollärarnas och barnskötarnas upplevda organisatoriska arbetsvillkor så som de beskrevs i vittnesmålen i den 689-sidor långa förskoleuppropet #pressatläge. Studien baserades på anonymiserade vittnesmål från personal i barnomsorgen från hela Sverige. Analysen av datamaterialet resulterade i tre huvudsakliga teman: a) prekariserande arbetsförhållanden, b) förskolemiljön som en krisplats och c) barns utsatthet nu och i framtiden. Slutsatsen av studien visar att konsekvenser av dåliga arbetsvillkor i en kvinnodominerad yrkesgrupp är kortsiktiga i form av psykisk ohälsa men också långsiktiga vad gäller barnens bästa och verksamhetens framtida utveckling.

The article problematizes decision-making in the health and care sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is done deductively by applying an empi-rically developed decision model to new data that consists of media articles. The decision model can be divided into two dimensions; an employee-orien-ted and an organization-oriented. Each dimension indicates the direction of the decision and ranges from anti to pro. This means that decisions can be made pro/anti employees/organization. We have found evidence for the models’ various dimensions, which are the basis of an analysis of the con-sequences decisions may have on employees, the working life and the civil society as a whole.  

Military organizations have a long tradition of autonomy in relation to other groups. Most positions in military organizations, at least those at the higher levels, are reserved for military officers. However, given the increasing complexity of modern society, civilian specialists have become more common in high-level military staff contexts. The purpose of this study was, through an inductive approach, to gain a deeper understanding of the role of civilian and military advisors in a high-level military staff context. A grounded theory approach was used. The empirical material is based on 10 interviews with advisors in high-level military staffs, three of which were with women. The qualitative analysis resulted in a theoretical model that describes that the trustworthiness of advisors is established through two types of action-logics: (1) through the advisor’s individual strategies - that is, what the advisors themselves do and (2) through an “allowing” structure, which permits an increased freedom of action for advisors. Advisors' positions and skills are unique in a staff environment, which is important in a decision-making process. These two logics influence one another as well as the credibility of the advisor’s agenda. Research limitations/implications are the following: small sample, lack of representativeness, and lack of illumination of possible gender-related aspects. The suggested model may be valuable in military educational settings.    

Extant theory suggests that paths of development, although identified as beingunsustainable, might be difficult to depart from. Our aim has therefore been toexplore and understand how a path change can be facilitated in a setting of complexproduct systems. We have studied a unique single case that managed a departurefrom an unsustainable cost escalation for complex defence equipment. The studyshows a relation between a path change and an opportunity, and also indicates howthis relation can be moderated by company management and customers. This isfurther clarified in a proposed model. We thereby provide both a theoretical andpractical contribution that support understanding and facilitating of path changes.

In 2016, by moving from armed struggle to collective reincorporation, Colombian women ex-guerrilleras of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) – the farianas – reconfigured the ‘combatant’ identity by leaving their weapons and engaging in post-war politics with their own feminist vision: insurgent feminism. Drawing upon feminist ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the north-east of Colombia in 2019 and 2022, this article has two interlinked objectives. First, through the lenses of embodiment and affects, it explores the challenges and contradictions of transiting from an armed organisation to a civilian identity for women militants. From there, the article then uses the continuum of militancy to explore the (ongoing) consolidation of farianas’ insurgent feminism and the tensions emerging in this endeavour. In doing so, the article contributes, theoretically, to the inclusion of emotions and embodiment in the theorisation of reincorporation and, empirically and politically, to the construction of knowledge and practice about insurgent feminism.