The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges for the governments. Those challenges refer to many different areas, among others related to aspects of a country’s image. The main research problem relates to whether making different decisions than the majority of governments impacts the perception of a state and whether it makes it a “pariah state”. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, a focus is put on Sweden, which decided to implement solutions far different from the majority of EU member states. Since Sweden is a widely recognized state, it is an interesting case to be analyzed. The main stress is put on how Sweden’s different stance on COVID-19 influences the way it is perceived by other member states and whether it makes it subject to wider restrictions. The research question refers to whether decisions made by the Swedish decision-makers during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the way Sweden is treated and perceived by other EU member states. The research is strongly embedded in the concept of soft power and soft disempowerment. The research is based on a comparative method where data referring to both the stage of epidemics in all EU member states and the scope of implemented restrictions are confronted
The migration crisis influenced the internal situation in Sweden to a great extent. Owing to an intensive migrant inflow and a massive submission of asylum applications, the topic of immigration became an integral part of the political discourse. Therefore, a question should be asked, whether intensified migration will cause any visible changes in Sweden, especially in the field of politics and social attitudes towards foreigners. Sweden, until now, has been perceived as a tolerant and open state and society. The aim of the article is to test the hypothesis assuming that there is a correlation between the migration crisis, the radicalisation of the Swedish society and the growing support for the Sweden Democrats, the only anti-immigration political party in Sweden.
The aim of the article is to examine whether Nordic area can be regarded as a homogenous and successfully cooperating region, which is providing one unified political front. Considering many similarities between Nordic states, as for example shared values (equality, women rights, common love of democracy, peace and welfare state), one could say that Nordic states constitute a single and unitary area. What is more, the linguistic, cultural and historical closeness of those states is a fact, but at the same time many differences can be pointed, especially considering their security and foreign policies. Those aspects seem to be the main obstacle in introducing full cooperation in the region. Nevertheless, it is worth noticing that current international developments and appearance of new threats to security are influencing the Nordic states which, as a result, are changing their attitudes towards security policy. Those factors could lead to introducing new dimensions of their cooperation.
Sweden has a long tradition of political neutrality. It is conditioned by a large number of factors ranging from historical tradition of military inactivity, through social conditions (strong sense of social solidarity and a tradition of respect for the law and authority), political (the essential role of socio-democratic thoughts on the expression of pacifist tendencies), and ultimately to economic (the economic and financial advantages resulting from having avoided involvement in the two world wars). Simultaneously, the characteristic pragmatism of Swedish politics has led to the evolution of the policy of neutrality alongside the changing international situation. The economic and political benefits flowing from European integration, along with the growing catalogue of real threats to international security have led to the gradual abandonment of the politics of neutrality by Sweden. It is therefore worth contemplating the future of the Swedish politics of neutrality, and the likelihood of fundamental changes in the international arena that would be inherent in a Swedish accession to NATO.
Sport is one of the tools frequently used by states in the process of their image creation, strengthening their soft power and possibilities of influencing the international environment. One of such methods of reaching those goals is organization of sport mega-events that have an international outreach. The aim of this article is to show the possible negative consequences for a state’s image that result from organizing such a sport mega-event. The analysis conducted is based on the example of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The hypothesis stated in the article claims that some forms of sport diplomacy and image creation sport diplomacy that depend on the state’s actions can weaken the state’s image or at best not influence it in a positive way.
The aim of the article is to investigate the selected ways by which Sweden shapes its international attractiveness using culture. The research is empirical and is directed at verification of hypotheses stating that culture should be regarded as an important factor of shaping Sweden’s brand and that the chain of IKEA stores is an extraordinary channel of enhancing Sweden’s national brand with the use of culture. The others that are worth mentioning are the Swedish Institute and the website sweden.se.
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