Policymaking to support resilience in democratic countries: an examination of Sweden, Israel, and Australia

Abstract

The term ‘resilience’ has increasingly featured in foreign and security policy discourse, appearing in the 2016 European Union Global Strategy, the 2017 US National Security Strategy, and most recently in the UK’s 2021 Integrated Review. These strategies note the importance of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from crises that could affect civilian society. While these strategies agree on the importance of building resilience, they do not specify the concrete policies that would be required to do so. Through a comparison of three democratic countries that refer to resilience in their national security documents, Sweden, Israel, and Australia, this article will identify measures that contribute to resilience in democracies. It will also discuss how policymakers in democratic countries should anticipate emerging trends and future threats to enhance their resilience in an increasingly complex and dangerous security environment.