How the Social Democrats' rapid shift on NATO affected Swedish identity

The Social Democrats' (S) rapid turnaround on NATO was possible because, by the spring of 2022, non-alignment was no longer a crucial part of Swedish national identity. This is one of the conclusions from an article recently published in the Journal of International Relations and Development.

The Social Democrats' policy shift, which led to Sweden's NATO application in May 2022, is noteworthy for several reasons, says Linus Hagström, Professor of Political Science, who co-authored the article with Elvira Gylling Hjertström, a former student at the Swedish Defence University.

"Non-alignment and earlier neutrality were particularly important to the Social Democrats and had become central to how they defined Swedish identity. We focused on the Social Democrats because we interpreted the party as representative of the many Swedes who, before 2022, believed Sweden should remain non-aligned. Shouldn’t such a rapid abandonment of non-alignment have caused significant uncertainty about what kind of country Sweden is?" asks Hagström.

Conflict between different identities

The researchers highlight how, in the spring of 2022, a conflict emerged in Sweden between different identity constructions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership.

The Social Democrats described this as a situation where Sweden's non-alignment clashed with other identity constructions: Sweden as a peace-promoting, independent state that values democracy and solidarity, particularly with Finland. To reconcile these conflicting identities, it became necessary to abandon non-alignment as part of Swedish identity and instead apply for NATO membership.

"For the vast majority, the decision did not threaten Sweden’s self-image but rather helped to affirm and stabilise it," explains Hagström. He adds:
"In the spring of 2022, non-alignment was no longer such a central part of Swedish identity, which helps explain how the Social Democrats could shift so quickly on the NATO issue."

The analysis also shows that, for the first time, the Social Democrats managed to align another key identity – that of Sweden as a nation with an activist foreign policy and a strong international voice – with NATO membership, despite these two identities having previously been difficult to reconcile.

Ontological security

The article draws on research on ontological security – a concept describing an individual’s, group’s, or state’s experience of stability and continuity in its identity and self-image over time.

The study reveals that identities may need to change to protect the integrity of the broader self-image (the so-called "self"), but this does not mean that the self is free to choose its identity. Instead, identities shape how we perceive stability and coherence in our self over time and space. Identities also influence how we perceive threats or challenges to our sense of stability.

"To understand why some identities remain stable while others change, we can think of the self as composed of layers of identity constructions. When conflicts arise between these layers, more superficial identities tend to change first," explains Hagström.

Greater understanding of the rapid process

"Our study provides a better understanding of how the Social Democrats' shift on NATO could happen so quickly, despite military non-alignment keeping Sweden out of war for 200 years. The article also has theoretical significance, as it demonstrates how more and less institutionalised identities interact, with less institutionalised identity constructions sometimes needing to change to protect the more central parts of the self-image," says Hagström.