Arms exports and intelligence: the case of Sweden

Abstract

This article approaches the intelligence dimension of Sweden’s arms exports by going back to three governmental decisions, taken in 1914, 1935 and 1971 respectively, all of which have been pivotal to both the Swedish government’s involvement in arms exports and the emergence of government institutions handling the intelligence associated with this export. The article shows that a significant amount of the collection and evaluation of arms exports intelligence is performed by government authorities other than those of traditional intelligence. It also points to the important roles of other actors ‘doing intelligence’ in this field, such as civic movements and investigative journalists.