Como a literatura especializada tem interpretado o abandono da neutralidade sueca?: o caso da adesão da Suécia à OTAN em 2022

Abstract

This study analyses how Swedish academic literature published in English has interpreted Sweden’s decision to abandon its historical policy of neutrality and apple for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2022, following the second Russian invasion of Ukraine. The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that such a decision represents a paradigmatic rupture in over two centuries of Swedish foreign policy — an uncommon event. Just as few foresaw, in the early 1920s, the full implications of the Treaty of Versailles, for instance, it is possible that this moment holds similarly profound consequences for the future of European security and Sweden’s position in the international system. It is certainly a sui generis event, about which there is still little academic production in Brazil, especially regarding Sweden and its strategic identity transformation. The research question guiding this study is: “How has the Swedish academic community that publishes in English interpreted the country’s decision to abandon neutrality and join NATO between 2022 and 2025?”.The study engages with International Relations literature that discusses strategic identities, neutrality, and geopolitical realignments, drawing on approaches such as shelter theory, offensive realism, role theory, ontological security, institutionalism, liberalism, among other analytical strands within the field of International Relations. The methodological strategy adopted is qualitative and exploratory in nature, with a focus on thematic analysis of academic publications available in the Swedish DiVA repository and on Google Scholar. The selected texts were published within the timeframe of 2022 to 2025, written in English by authors affiliated with Swedish academic institutions, with the aim of identifying recurring categories and prevailing interpretations regarding Sweden’s abandonment of neutrality and accession to NATO within Swedish specialized literature. It is concluded that the abandonment of neutrality is interpreted in Swedish specialized literature as the outcome of a historical process of strategic transformation, in which neutrality was gradually redefined until it became incompatible with the new European security environment.