The Social Construction Of Swedish Neutrality: Challenges To Swedish Identity And Sovereignty (new Approaches To Conflict Analysis)

The end of the Cold War and the __War on Terror__ has signalled a shift in the security policies of all states. It has also led to the reconsideration of the policy of neutrality, and what being neutral means in the present age. This book examines the conceptualization of Swedish neutrality from the Peloponnesian War to today, uncovering how neutrality has been a neglected and misunderstood subject in IR theory and politics. By rethinking neutrality through constructivism, this book argues that neutrality is intrinsically linked to identity. Using Sweden as a case study, it links identity, sovereignty, internationalism and solidarity to the debates about Swedish neutrality today and how neutrality has been central to Swedish identity and its worldview. The end of the Cold War and the ‘War on Terror'has signalled a shift in the security policies of all states. It has also led to the reconsideration of the policy of neutrality, and what being neutral means in the present age. This book examines the conceptualisation of neutrality from the Peloponnesian War to today, uncovering how neutrality has been a neglected and misunderstood subject in International Relations (IR) theory and politics. By rethinking neutrality through constructivism, this book argues that neutrality is intrinsically linked to identity. Using Sweden as a case study, it links identity, sovereignty, internationalism and solidarity to the debates about Swedish neutrality today and how neutrality has been central to Swedish identity and its worldview. It also examines the challenges to Swedish neutrality and neutrality broadly, in terms of European integration, globalisation, the decline of the state and sovereignty, and new threats to security, such as international terrorism, arguing that the norms and values of neutrality can be reworked to contribute to a more cosmopolitan international order. Agius Argues That Swedish Neutrality Is An Embedded Part Of Swedish Identity, And Its Domestic Sources Stem From The Ideology Of Social Democracy. She Suggests That The Norms Of Active Neutrality Can Be Reworked To Contribute To A Cosmopolitan International Order. Writing Neutrality : From The Peloponnesian War To The Cold War -- Neutrality Is What States Make Of It : Rethinking Neutrality Through Constructivism -- Neutrality As A Social Democratic Project : Tracing The Origins Of Swedish Neutrality, 1814-1945 -- Sweden's Post-war Neutrality Doctrine : Active Internationalism And Credible Neutrality -- The Crisis In Swedish Social Democracy : Paving The Path For A New Identity -- A New Swedish Identity? : Bildt, Europe, And Neutrality In The Post-cold War Era -- Into Europe With The Sap : Sweden As An Eu Member State -- The War On Terror And Globalisation : Implications For Neutrality And Sovereignty -- The Failure Of Neutrality? Christine Agius. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 210-246) And Index. Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly in the post-9/11 international environment, neutrality has been conceptualised as a problematic subject. With the end of bipolarity, neutrality as a foreign and security policy lost much of its justification, and in the ongoing ‘War on Terror’, no state, according to the Bush Administration, can be neutral. However, much of this debate has gone unnoticed in I.R. literature. This book examines the conceptualisation of neutrality from the Peloponnesian War to the present day, uncovering how neutrality has been a neglected and misunderstood subject in IR theory and politics. By rethinking neutrality through constructivism, this book argues that neutrality is intrinsically linked to identity. Using Sweden as a case study, it links identity, sovereignty, internationalism and solidarity to the debates about Swedish neutrality today and how neutrality has been central to Swedish identity and its world-view