Solidarity and Sovereignty: The Two-Dimensional Game of Swedish Security Policy

Abstract

7 The methodological logic that follows from this is that language, with its symbols and codes, is a reflection of meaning.8 In this way, the study of the debate following the Defense Bill of 2009 - or indeed in the words of philosopher Paul Ricoeur, of any discourse fixed by writing9 - is a method to trace the meaning of strategic language within Sweden's strategic culture. [...] for the purpose of this text, the term discourse is defined as "a system for the formation of statements" about security issues.10 The key structure under examination in this article is the Defense Bill of 2009 which, together with the Defense Commission (Försvarsberedningen) , constitutes the focal point for my analysis.