An Attempt at Defining a Comprehensive Military Strategic Doctrine

Summary of Patrik Ahlgren's article in RSAWSPJ no 3 2001.

The Swedish Armed Forces are currently in the process of defining a new comprehensive military strategic doctrine. The objective is to provide guidelines on how the Armed Forces could be used in support of Swedish security and defence policy as officially stated in a new security environment. Since work on the doctrine is still in progress, the suggestions as of-fered below are to be understood primarily as a tentative theory. However, they broadly reflect current Swedish military strategic thinking.

The four strategic tasks as defined by Parliament in 1999 may be operationalised through the following four military strategic aims which should be pursued both nationally and internationally:

• to prevent the emergence or reemergence of armed conflicts;
• to subdue conflicts and prevent the spreading of conflicts to Swedish territory or to Sweden’s neighbouring countries;
• to protect, in close co-operation with civilian authorities, the territory and people of Sweden against non-military security threats; and
• to defend Sweden against an armed attack.

Adaptability, civilian and military co-operation are the two central prerequisites for the Government to act freely with regard to choosing means and methods in situations of crisis and armed conflict.