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We Can Not Be Generous Anymore - A Qualitative Study of Sweden’s Change of Foreign Aid Policy From a Security Perspective

Magnusson, Erika LU (2023) SIMZ31 20231
Graduate School
Abstract
Since 1962, Sweden has gained significant global influence through its generous foreign aid policy. However, in late 2022 a new foreign aid policy was announced which includes several drastic and controversial changes. This study demonstrates the significance of taking the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the severest conflict in Europe since 1945, into consideration to understand this change of foreign aid policy. This study critically analyses the correlation between Sweden’s new foreign aid policy and the war in Ukraine from the perspective of ontological security. Through a thematic analysis of speeches, the invasion’s impact on Sweden’s feeling of ontological security is examined. The generated themes indicate how Sweden experienced the... (More)
Since 1962, Sweden has gained significant global influence through its generous foreign aid policy. However, in late 2022 a new foreign aid policy was announced which includes several drastic and controversial changes. This study demonstrates the significance of taking the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the severest conflict in Europe since 1945, into consideration to understand this change of foreign aid policy. This study critically analyses the correlation between Sweden’s new foreign aid policy and the war in Ukraine from the perspective of ontological security. Through a thematic analysis of speeches, the invasion’s impact on Sweden’s feeling of ontological security is examined. The generated themes indicate how Sweden experienced the invasion as a critical situation, as it threatened Sweden’s sense of a stable self-identity through a potential re-arrangement of the world order and Sweden’s lack of a stable collective autobiographical narrative. Overall, this study suggests that due to the ontological insecurity experienced it appeared not feasible to uphold routinised practices, including its foreign aid policy.
The application of ontological security theory in this study expands the theory’s potential to reconsider practices of foreign aid policy, a rather undertheorized aspect, and provides new insights into state practices of foreign aid. (Less)
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author
Magnusson, Erika LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ31 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Ontological Security Theory, Foreign Aid Policy, Interstate Warfare, Critical Situation, Sweden
language
English
id
9125387
date added to LUP
2023-06-21 14:15:39
date last changed
2023-06-21 14:15:39
@misc{9125387,
  abstract     = {{Since 1962, Sweden has gained significant global influence through its generous foreign aid policy. However, in late 2022 a new foreign aid policy was announced which includes several drastic and controversial changes. This study demonstrates the significance of taking the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the severest conflict in Europe since 1945, into consideration to understand this change of foreign aid policy. This study critically analyses the correlation between Sweden’s new foreign aid policy and the war in Ukraine from the perspective of ontological security. Through a thematic analysis of speeches, the invasion’s impact on Sweden’s feeling of ontological security is examined. The generated themes indicate how Sweden experienced the invasion as a critical situation, as it threatened Sweden’s sense of a stable self-identity through a potential re-arrangement of the world order and Sweden’s lack of a stable collective autobiographical narrative. Overall, this study suggests that due to the ontological insecurity experienced it appeared not feasible to uphold routinised practices, including its foreign aid policy.
The application of ontological security theory in this study expands the theory’s potential to reconsider practices of foreign aid policy, a rather undertheorized aspect, and provides new insights into state practices of foreign aid.}},
  author       = {{Magnusson, Erika}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{We Can Not Be Generous Anymore - A Qualitative Study of Sweden’s Change of Foreign Aid Policy From a Security Perspective}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}