We Can Not Be Generous Anymore - A Qualitative Study of Sweden’s Change of Foreign Aid Policy From a Security Perspective
(2023) SIMZ31 20231Graduate 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)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9125387
- author
- Magnusson, Erika LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SIMZ31 20231
- year
- 2023
- 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}}, }