Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

Sweden’s change in foreign policy following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the spring of 2022 is an interesting case for foreign policy analysis of how Sweden went from following a practice of non-alignment for around two hundred years and how this was changed by Sweden’s ascension into NATO. The process that started at the beginning of spring in 2022 and was finished in 2024. This essay is an analysis of Sweden’s political debate surrounding the country’s ascension into NATO 2022. The analysis is based on Hudson’s (2014) framework for how the domestic political environment influences foreign policymaking. How the government and opposition used different methods to support their decision making and how the Swedish Social Democratic party decided on its decision to support the Swedish ascension to NATO.