Alliansen som normen – Sveriges nya vardag i Nato

Sammanfattning

Sweden´s NATO accession in 2024 marks a shift from nationally bounded defense governance to an allied, multilevel decision-making environment. This study examines how Swedish strategic positions are coordinated through the NATO representation and its interaction with the Ministry of Defense and the Swedish Armed Forces. Drawing on Magnus Cristiansson´s framework of strategic governance, the study applies the concepts of embeddedness, organizing and micro-steering to analyse everyday civil-military practice. Based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis, the findings show that coordination relies heavily on informal interaction, trust and anticipation within a policy network operating under formal mandates. NATO´s tempo and multilevel structure shape national processes and expand official´s room for manoeuvre. The study contributes to war studies by extending a governance-based civil-military framework to an allied context and offers professional insights into the strategic role of officers operating at the boundary between politics and military expertise.