Why did Sweden, the pioneer of the concept of feminist foreign policy, apply for NATO membership? Doesn’t that contradict the policy in question? Feminist journalist Anna Clara-Bratt reviews Sweden’s application for NATO membership and its feminist foreign policy.
Why did Sweden, the pioneer of the concept of feminist foreign policy, apply for NATO membership? Doesn’t that contradict the policy in question? The founder of Sweden’s first feminist online news magazine, Feminist Perspektiv, Anna Clara-Bratt reviews Sweden’s application for NATO membership and its feminist foreign policy in an interview with Selay Dalaklı from Bianet.
As we know, Sweden was a pioneer in introducing the feminist foreign policy approach and now came the application to NATO membership. I wonder what Sweden’s feminist foreign policy approach entails in general and whether Sweden’s application to NATO membership is compatible with such a foreign policy approach.
First of all, I have to say that this feminist policy is not so well known to anyone. There are political scientists at Lund University that ask “How can we have a feminist foreign policy when we do not have a domestic feminist policy?” I find that question relevant.
I would say that it is very superficial. It is mainly about that we have had one female foreign minister with feminist ideology, Margot Wallström. Now, this has changed a little bit because we have a new foreign minister.
It was not easy to have a feminist foreign policy. What was actually that?
When Margot Wallström made sharp statements on weapons and Saudi Arabia, it was later smoothed by the prime minister.
What is feminism for one can be another thing for another. Some say that it is good that we use the word. It is a first step. And it did provoke some countries.
“Everyone is surprised by NATO application”
When it comes to NATO membership. I would say that the people in Sweden, feminist or not, are surprised by the whole thing; both Putin’s [Vladimir, President of Russia] invasion [of Ukraine] and the following NATO application.
One thing that is common knowledge now is that we are a very close ally to Finland. It makes sense, right? We are neighbours, but I’ve never heard much about that alliance before.
And then again, I must say that many people understand the fear in Finland. Elder people, the ones who still have the war in memory, the Finnish War and the Second World War… They just totally respect that.
And it is not the old enemy, the Soviet Union, but it is specifically [Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin. Nobody seems to be able to control him. It is not even clear what the ideology is, other than nationalism.
What changed the minds of Social Democracts?
Still, everybody is surprised. A few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, all social democratic ministers said very clearly: “We will never ever enter NATO.” I was actually surprised and thought, “Well, they’re really firm. I can trust them.” Then, they never said why they changed their mind. All of a sudden, they just did overnight and then staged a democratic process among representatives of the party.
There were big meetings online and the representatives never got to speak, as some claimed. They only listen to the ministers. Nobody is not used to this kind of process.
The only uncompromising party
There is only one party that stands firm against a Nato-membership and that is the Left Party, Vänsterpartiet. They are often left outside political processes, so maybe they do not know what the other knows.
What is the threat? Nobody knows, except these politicians and the same in Finland. It could be anything from nuclear threats to whatever.
As for the Swedish army, I would say that it appears outdated. Everybody is like 62, they are not good at cyber issues and their references are mainly from the cold war.
As feminists in Sweden, we have been suffering from Russian trolls and interference for a long time. They do not like LGBTI. They do not like anything we do. So, I am sure that Swedish authorities, the military or the police are not so good at Internet security. Even kids on the street seem better.
I spent a lot of time thinking about it: What made the social democrats change [their minds] overnight? It was something for sure because they put their entire pride in saying we will never enter NATO, and it’s not easy to change in public life, right?
My guess is that our defense, the military, was not up for the job. During COVID-19 they put up 20-year-old field hospitals. It was so old that there were no longer nurses that could handle the machines. So, that is my guess.
You can read the full interview here.