Understanding Sweden’s security economy

Abstract

This article aims to map out and analyse how Sweden’s security economy is shaped and sustained through security policies, political decisions, and personal connections amongst commercial and state elites. We treat the arms and security service industries as two sides of the same coin. In doing so, we address a shortcoming in the security literature that often analyses these two fields as separate areas of study with their own set of logic, research questions, theories, and methodologies. By bringing these two areas together, our study contributes to knowledge of the relationship between commercial defence and security actors and the state and a deeper understanding of Sweden’s security economy.