Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

How Think Tanks in Washington Impact Swedish Security Policy: A qualitative study on how American think tank networks contributed to the Swedish NATO ascension process

Wikholm, Hugo LU (2025) FKVK02 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Since Sweden's historic decision to join NATO in 2022, much attention has been given to the political decision-making process. However, less attention has focused on external influences in the non-political policy analysis. This thesis purpose has therefore been to investigate how Washington-based think tanks contributed to Sweden’s security policy analysis during the NATO accession process between 2014 and 2024. By combining three theories, including Policy Analysis, the Organizational Process Model and Policy Transfer, the thesis developed a two-step theoretical framework. Data from three elite interviews with Swedish civil servants and government documents were compared to think tanks output. A Social Network Analysis mapped the network... (More)
Since Sweden's historic decision to join NATO in 2022, much attention has been given to the political decision-making process. However, less attention has focused on external influences in the non-political policy analysis. This thesis purpose has therefore been to investigate how Washington-based think tanks contributed to Sweden’s security policy analysis during the NATO accession process between 2014 and 2024. By combining three theories, including Policy Analysis, the Organizational Process Model and Policy Transfer, the thesis developed a two-step theoretical framework. Data from three elite interviews with Swedish civil servants and government documents were compared to think tanks output. A Social Network Analysis mapped the network between think tanks and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then, a content analysis was done to identify overlaps of what think tanks have produced to what Swedish civil servants have concluded. The findings suggest that a network exists, and that there are several instances of ideas and policy proposals contributing to Swedish policy analysis. While the limited data makes broad generalizations difficult, the thesis concludes that there is evidence that think tanks had a long-term, indirect influence on Sweden’s security policy analysis regarding its relationship to NATO. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wikholm, Hugo LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
NATO, Think tanks, Security studies, Swedish policy analysis, Washington D.C.
language
English
id
9191139
date added to LUP
2025-08-08 11:24:27
date last changed
2025-08-08 11:24:27
@misc{9191139,
  abstract     = {{Since Sweden's historic decision to join NATO in 2022, much attention has been given to the political decision-making process. However, less attention has focused on external influences in the non-political policy analysis. This thesis purpose has therefore been to investigate how Washington-based think tanks contributed to Sweden’s security policy analysis during the NATO accession process between 2014 and 2024. By combining three theories, including Policy Analysis, the Organizational Process Model and Policy Transfer, the thesis developed a two-step theoretical framework. Data from three elite interviews with Swedish civil servants and government documents were compared to think tanks output. A Social Network Analysis mapped the network between think tanks and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then, a content analysis was done to identify overlaps of what think tanks have produced to what Swedish civil servants have concluded. The findings suggest that a network exists, and that there are several instances of ideas and policy proposals contributing to Swedish policy analysis. While the limited data makes broad generalizations difficult, the thesis concludes that there is evidence that think tanks had a long-term, indirect influence on Sweden’s security policy analysis regarding its relationship to NATO.}},
  author       = {{Wikholm, Hugo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{How Think Tanks in Washington Impact Swedish Security Policy: A qualitative study on how American think tank networks contributed to the Swedish NATO ascension process}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}