Swedish Defence University
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En naken soldat – ett hinder mot tillväxt? En studie om Försvarsmaktens försörjning av personlig utrustning
No full textRecent media reports have highlighted severe shortages of personal military equipment within the Swedish Armed Forces. While external factors such as rapid military growth and limited industrial capacity are often cited, this study explores the internal causes behind recurring supply failures. Through an abductive thematic analysis of eleven interviews, the study reveals a complex interplay of organizational, leadership and procedural obstacles. Seven key themes are identified, including unclear strategic priorities, process fragmentation, inadequate information systems, and limited institutional learning. The findings suggest that internal structures and leadership practices significantly limit supply efficiency, despite well-established military logistics and supply chain models. This research fills a gap in the literature by focusing on internal procurement processes in peacetime, offering both theoretical contributions and practical implications for improving logistics resilience in military organizations facing rapid transformation
Att förbereda befolkningen : Säkerhetsnarrativ och styrning i nordiskt totalförsvar!
No full textThis thesis examines how national preparedness brochures from Sweden, Norway and Finland construct security narratives aimed at citizens. Through a comparative narrative analysis, the study explores how responsibility for crisis preparedness is communicated and how states use govermentality to shape civic behaviour. Drawing on Foucault´s concept of govermentality and the notions of resilience and responsibilisation, the findings reveal clear differences. Sweden emphasizes individual responsibility, Norway promotes shared responsibility, and Finland integrates preparedness into a collective security model. The study highlights how indirect governance through narratives reflects broader strategies for civil defence and societal resilience.
Resiliens i militär logistik, en fallstudie av svensk reservdelsförsörjningföre, under och efter den strategiska timeouten
No full textThe formation of the Swedish Armed Forces have changed over time. Thus logistics have had to be adapted. During the cold war, resilience through self-suffiency was a method of resisting disruptions and blockades. During the strategic timeout, business locistic solutions were widely applied to create efficiencies. Inthe transformation that is now taking place, logistics are again adapted to function during armed conflicts threatening the own country. The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge about resilience in Swedish spare parts supply before, during and after the strategic timeout. By using an analysis tool, based on three logistical principles, a comparison has been made between the periods. The results indicate that changes take time and they would primarily benefit from a logistical-stratecic unity. The study contributes to an understanding of how resilience in spare parts supply can be strengthened
Att tänka maritimt i cyberkrig : Corbett och Viasat-attacken 2022
No full textThis thesis examines how Julian Corbett’s maritime strategy can be applied to understand cyber warfare, using the 2022 Russian cyberattack on the Viasat satellite network as a case study. While traditional analyses often rely on Clausewitzian concepts of decisive battle and dominance, this study focuses on control as a temporary and functional influence within the cyber domain. Through counterfactual analysis informed by process tracing, the study compares the actual operation with a Corbett-inspired alternative. The results suggest that the attack failed strategically due to its lack of domain integration and overambitious targeting. Corbett’s concepts are shown to offer valuable insights into cyber strategy. The study also illustrates how counterfactual analysis can be used to explore strategic effectiveness beyond empirical outcomes
Identitet i fred - agilitet i krig : En studie om Organisatorisk identitet och Militär agilitet i två svenska arméregementen
No full textThis thesis explores how organizational identity (OI) affects military agility (MA) in professional armed forces. Anchored in war studies, it integrates Albert and Whetten’s (1985), Whetten’s (2006) and Finkel’s (2020) frameworks. Through a qualitative comparative case study of two Swedish Army regiments, the study investigates how OI promotes or constrains the conditions for military agility. The analysis identifies four mechanisms through which OI enables or constrains adaptation: normative coherence, structural alignment, institutionalized learning, and narrative and linguistic integration. Findings show that OI is not a passive backdrop shaping conditions for MA but a dynamic institutional infrastructure, shaped by its collective anchoring and practical enactment. Theoretically, the study clarifies how OI-mechanisms underpin MA. Practically, it offers a framework for understanding how identity work can enhance adaptability in military organizations facing uncertain and changing environments
Killing in the Name of Love : A visual analysis of the reproduction of gendered and sexualised subjectivities in social media posts on the 2023-2025 Gaza war
No full textMany actors have taken to social media to voice their support for, or condemn, the current war in Gaza. Interestingly, many posts on social media focus on women’s and queer rights in Palestine-Israel. This thesis explores how gendered and sexualised subjectivities are reproduced on social media as part of narratives justifying, and counternarratives condemning, Israel’s war in Gaza. A review of the literature on ‘homonationalism’ and ‘pinkwashing’ highlights how marginalised subjectivities can be employed by states to justify war but also reveals a debate over how this should be understood with regards to Palestine-Israel. This thesis takes a queer of colour approach and analyses how gendered and sexualised subjectivities are reproduced to uphold power structures, as well as how queer Palestinians can ‘disidentify’ with and subvert these power structures. Visuals are gathered from Instagram and X and coded using ATLAS.ti 24.2.1. A feminist visual narrative analysis is applied to these visuals, revealing that racialised, gendered, and sexualised subjectivities are reproduced on social media as part of narratives justifying Israel’s war to international audiences. However, social media also provides queer Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists opportunities to subvert dominant narratives and challenge the oppressive structures of Zionism, heteropatriarchy, and neoliberalism. Given the brutality of the war in Gaza, it is vital that we understand and reject the appropriation of minority rights on social media to justify genocide.Många aktörer har tagit till sociala medier för att uttrycka sitt stöd för, eller för att fördöma, det pågående kriget i Gaza. Intressant nog fokuserar många inlägg på sociala medier på kvinnliga och queerrättigheter i Palestina-Israel. Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur könade och sexualiserade subjektiviteter reproduceras på sociala medier som en del av narrativ som rättfärdigar, och motnarrativ som fördömer, Israels krig i Gaza. En översikt av litteraturen om ”homonationalism” och ”pinkwashing” belyser hur marginaliserade subjektiviteter kan användas av stater för att rättfärdiga krig, men visar också på en debatt om hur detta ska förstås med hänsyn till Palestina-Israel. Denna uppsats utgår från ett queer of colour-perspektiv och analyserar hur könade och sexualiserade subjektiviteter reproduceras för att upprätthålla maktstrukturer, samt hur queera palestinier kan ”disidentifiera” sig med och undergräva dessa maktstrukturer. Bildmaterial samlas in från Instagram och X och kodas med hjälp av ATLAS.ti 24.2.1. En feministisk visuell narrativ analys används på dessa bilder, vilket visar att rasifierade, könade och sexualiserade subjektiviteter reproduceras på sociala medier som en del av narrativ som rättfärdigar Israels krig för en internationell publik. Men sociala medier ger också queera palestinier och pro-palestinska aktivister möjligheter att undergräva dominerande narrativ och bekämpa de förtryckande strukturer som sionism, heteropatriarkat och nyliberalism. Med tanke på brutaliteten i kriget i Gaza är det viktigt att vi förstår och förkastar att minoriteters rättigheter används i sociala medier för att rättfärdiga folkmord
Drönares psykologiska betydelse i Nagorno-Karabach-konflikten 2020
No full textThe conflict studied in this paper is the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War 2020 and it focuses on drones and their psychological importance during the conflict. The 44-day long war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was the first conflict in history in which armed drones were as a primary means used. Previous research concludes that although drones were essential in the conflict it did not define the course of the war. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war by examining the importance of the use of drone to alter the course of the war, including examining the significance of the psychological aspect of the use of drones during the conflict. This study conducts a meta-analysis of current research to deepen our understanding of the conflict as well as in deeper meanings of the text. The analysis uses a methodology of posing open questions to two explanatory theories, John Keegans ’the face of battle’ and Lars Henåkers and Peter Thunholms ‘ideal model’. The findings of this study suggests that the use of drones was important for the Azerbaijani forces, since they achieved air superiority by destroying the Armenian air defence by the use of drones. The study also finds that the psychological aspect of drones was significant since the drone threat became more important during the course of the war
The Underdog's Model rebooted : En samtida teoriprövning för cyberdomänen
No full textThis thesis explores whether The Underdog's Model (UM), originally developed for the air domain, can be applied to analyze how a small state may achieve strategic advantage in the cyber domain. Using a theory-testing case study of Israel and a qualitative text analysis, six key factors from UM are examined against empirical data. The analysis shows that several of these factors have identifiable equivalents in the cyber domain, particularly at the political and military-strategic levels. The results suggest that the logic of UM extends beyond its original domain, though some factors require reinterpretation.The thesis contributes to the field by introducing an asymmetry-based theoretical framework into a research area largely dominated by technical and policy-driven models. It also raises questions about whether conventional definitions of “small state” and “great power” remain valid in a cyber-strategic context, and points to the need for further theoretical development
Leading as a principal: if crisis or war comes : A phenomenological study of principals' perceptions of their role, conditions, and challenges in a heightened state of alert
No full textSkolan utgör en samhällsviktig verksamhet, som i den mån det möjligt, behöver fungera även vid kriser och höjd beredskap. Lärdomar från covid-19-pandemin och kriget i Ukraina har uppmärksammat betydelsen av skolledarskap. Rektorer behöver vara förberedda för att kunna hantera mångfacetterade och komplexa situationer. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur rektorer inom grundskolan uppfattar sin roll vid höjd beredskap, och vilka upplevda förutsättningar och utmaningar de möter i beredskapsarbetet. Genom en kvalitativ forskningsdesign med en fenomenologisk ansats har data samlats in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer och tematiskt analyserats. Det adaptiva ledarskapet har använts som analytiskt verktyg för att tolka det empiriska materialet. Resultatet identifierar flera likheter i rektorernas syn på sin roll i höjd beredskap, men även skillnader i hur rektorsrollen förstås och utövas, där ledarskapsbeteenden och rollens karaktär skiljer sig. Kommunens stöd framhålls som en av de viktigaste förutsättningarna för att hantera rektorsrollen vid höjd beredskap, där tidigare erfarenhet med kommunen påverkar rektorernas förväntningarna av stöd. Konkurrerande ansvarsområden och bristande likvärdighet lyfts fram som hinder i beredskapsarbetet, medan erfarenhet, kompetensutveckling, mentala förberedelser, tillitsfulla relationer, samt skolan och rektorns anpassningsförmåga beskrivs som faktorer som bidrar till trygghet i rektorsrollen. The school is a vital societal function that, to the extent possible, needs to continue operating even during crises and in a heightened state of alert. Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have highlighted the importance of school leadership. Principals need to be prepared to manage multifaced and complex situations. The purpose of the study is to examine how principals in primary school perceive their role in a heightened state of alert, and the perceived conditions and challenges they face in the preparedness work. Through a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach, data was collected using semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed. Adaptive leadership has been used as an analytical tool to interpret empirical data. The results identify several similarities in principals’ views of their role in a heightened state of alert but also differences in how the role of the principal is understood and practiced, with variations in leadership behaviors and the nature of the role. The municipality’s support is highlighted as one of the most important conditions for managing the role of the principal during a heightened state of alert, where prior experience with the municipality influences the principals’ expectations of support. Competing areas of responsibility and lack of equality are identified as obstacles in preparedness work, while experience, professional development, mental preparation, trusting relationships, and the school’s and principal’s adaptability are described as factors contributing to security in the principal’s role.
Den orostid nu kommer : En innehållsanalys av riskfyllt beslutsfattande under Midsommarkrisen 1941
No full textOn the 22nd of June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and began the so-called Midsummer crisis. While Germany started its invasion, they also made some demands. Particularly, they asked Sweden for permission to transfer an armed division, the 163rd Infantry Division, across Sweden to Finland. In the end, the coalition government decided to permit said request and therefor guilty of neutrality violations. Reasons as to why they did this has been explored many times but had never been examined through decision-making theory. The aim of this thesis was thus to explain why the Swedish coalition government decided to accept the German request by applying the Prospect theory. This was done by doing a content analysis on personal records made by relevant politicians and historical retellings of the Midsummer crisis. In short, the results from the analysis provided an indication that the coalition government show signs of being risk seeking. However, the conclusion of the thesisis that Prospect theory does not provide an adequate explanation as to why the Swedish coalition government approve the German transfer of its armed division.