Sweden has been criticized by experts around the world for its seemingly relaxed response to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of imposing total quarantine on its citizens and shutting down businesses and institutions, Swedish leaders have chosen a more selective approach to address the new risks to human health and societal dislocation. This has resulted in a higher death rate among confirmed cases than in the United States yet a functioning economy that has still been able to operate close to normal capacity. This balance between short term and long term risks is not just one choice for the Swedes but rather an approach that once was deeply ingrained in the strategic culture of the country that is being tried again.
During the Cold War, Sweden had adopted a position of formal neutrality to navigate its relationships with the Soviet Union and the United States. At the same time, however, Sweden had universal conscription for its armed forces, significant military defenses, a home guard of tens of thousands of citizens, and stored supplies and bunkers that would make an invasion by the Soviet Union difficult and time consuming. Like Finland, Sweden accepted that an invasion would produce casualties but that a resilient and resistant approach by its military and citizenry would either deter Moscow because of the costs involved in occupying Sweden or, at least, buy the country time until other democracies could come to its defense. The goal was not to repel the invaders but to slow their advance while still maintaining the semblance of a functioning independent nation.
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