Where is the Swedish Security Forum held?

The forum is held in Stockholm, SWE.

What is the format of the Swedish Security Forum?

The event is a forum, suggesting a format that encourages discussion and exchange among participants.

When does the Swedish Security Forum take place?

The forum is scheduled for June.

Swedish Security Forum ’27

Name: Swedish Security Forum ’27
Start: 2027-06-21T00:00:00Z
End: 2027-06-22T00:00:00Z
Location: Stockholm

Jun 21–22, 2027Stockholm, SwedenIn-person

Registration open

The Swedish Security Forum is an annual gathering focused on critical security issues, bringing together experts and stakeholders in Stockholm, Sweden. This event serves as a platform for in-depth discussions and strategic planning regarding the evolving security landscape. Participants engage with contemporary challenges and opportunities in national and international security contexts.

Committees & topics

Topics
International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition · Societal Resilience and Total Defence · Rearmament and the Future of National Defence · The European Security Order After 2022 · International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture · Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Why it matters

The forum is significant because it convenes key actors to address pressing security concerns in a region of increasing geopolitical importance. Discussions at this event often shape policy considerations and foster collaboration among various sectors. By focusing on current and emerging threats, the forum contributes to a more informed and resilient security posture for SWE and its partners.

Given the dynamic nature of global security, events like the Swedish Security Forum are crucial for maintaining vigilance and adapting strategies. The insights shared and connections made during the forum can have lasting impacts on national defense, cyber security, and international cooperation. It provides a vital space for both theoretical debate and practical solutions, reinforcing the importance of continuous dialogue in safeguarding national and regional interests.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the Swedish Security Forum should conduct thorough research into the current security doctrines and foreign policy positions of key European nations, particularly those in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Understanding the nuances of these perspectives will be crucial for meaningful engagement. Familiarity with recent developments in cyber warfare, hybrid threats, and defense cooperation within the European context will also be highly beneficial.

Effective participation will require an understanding of various perspectives on international security. Delegates should be prepared to discuss the implications of evolving geopolitical dynamics on regional stability. Reviewing materials on topics such as "Engagement Strategies" and "Dynamic Analysis" will provide a robust framework for contributing to the forum's discussions. Additionally, considering "Hidden Stakeholders" in security dialogues can offer a more comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Sweden

As the host nation, SWE is deeply invested in regional security and fostering international cooperation to address shared threats.

Role in topic

SWE plays a central role in facilitating dialogue on security issues, often bridging perspectives between different European nations and advocating for multilateral approaches to security challenges.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition

The post-Cold War international security order, anchored in the UN Charter, nuclear non-proliferation regimes, and a broad liberal trading system, has come under increasing strain since the mid-2000s. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shattered the assumption that large-scale interstate war had been banished from Europe, while China's military modernization, assertiveness in the South China Sea and around Taiwan, and deepening 'no limits' partnership with Russia have reshaped strategic calculations from the Indo-Pacific to the Arctic. Conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, the Sahel, and the Red Sea, alongside North Korea's continued nuclear and missile development, have layered regional crises atop this great-power tension. Parallel to kinetic conflict, security threats have diversified into cyber operations, disinformation, sabotage of undersea cables and pipelines, weaponization of energy and migration, and competition over critical minerals, semiconductors, and space. Arms control architecture has eroded with the collapse of the INF Treaty, the suspension of New START obligations by Russia, and stalled NPT review processes. International institutions, including the UN Security Council, remain frequently deadlocked by P5 vetoes. The debate today centers on whether the international community can rebuild credible deterrence and crisis-management mechanisms, restore arms control, and adapt multilateral institutions to hybrid and technological threats, or whether the system is drifting toward sustained bloc competition with a weakened normative core.

Key players

Societal Resilience and Total Defence

Resilience has emerged as a central organizing concept in contemporary security policy, encompassing a society's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from shocks ranging from armed attack to pandemics, cyber incidents, energy disruptions, and climate-driven crises. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains and public health systems, while Russia's weaponization of natural gas flows to Europe in 2022 and sabotage incidents against the Nord Stream pipelines and Baltic Sea cables highlighted the fragility of critical infrastructure. NATO formally elevated resilience as a core task in its 2022 Strategic Concept, and the EU adopted the Critical Entities Resilience Directive and updated NIS2 cybersecurity rules. Sweden has been a pioneer in revitalizing 'totalförsvar' (total defence), reactivated in 2015, integrating military and civil defence with private sector and citizen preparedness. The booklet 'Om krisen eller kriget kommer' distributed to all households reflects a Nordic tradition of whole-of-society preparedness that Finland, Norway, and the Baltic states share and that many other allies are now studying. Hybrid threats — including instrumentalized migration on the Finnish and Polish borders, GPS jamming over the Baltic, and election interference — have made resilience inseparable from deterrence. Current debates focus on how to fund and mandate stockpiling, secure semiconductor and pharmaceutical supply chains, protect undersea infrastructure, harden energy grids against cyberattack, and maintain public trust and cohesion in the face of sustained information operations.

Key players

Rearmament and the Future of National Defence

After three decades of post-Cold War reductions, European defence spending and force structures are being rebuilt at a pace not seen since the 1980s. Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered Germany's 100-billion-euro 'Zeitenwende' fund, large procurement programs across the Nordic-Baltic region, and a commitment by NATO allies to treat 2% of GDP as a floor rather than a ceiling, with several states moving toward 3% or higher. Ammunition stockpiles, depleted by transfers to Ukraine, have exposed the shrunken state of Western defence industrial bases, prompting EU initiatives such as ASAP and EDIP to scale up production. Sweden formally joined NATO in March 2024, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment, and is reintroducing and expanding conscription while procuring Gripen E, new submarines, and air defence. France, the United Kingdom, and the United States are simultaneously modernizing nuclear forces, while debates over long-range strike, integrated air and missile defence, drones, and AI-enabled systems are reshaping doctrine. Lessons from Ukraine — on attritional warfare, electronic warfare, drone-artillery integration, and the renewed centrality of mass — are forcing rapid doctrinal revision. Key questions include how to balance immediate readiness with long-term modernization, how to integrate emerging technologies without neglecting industrial-age capabilities, how to recruit and retain personnel, and how to align national defence plans with NATO regional plans adopted at the Vilnius and Washington summits.

Key players

The European Security Order After 2022

The European security order built after 1990 rested on the Charter of Paris, the Helsinki Final Act, the NATO-Russia Founding Act, and a web of arms control treaties including the CFE Treaty, the INF Treaty, and Open Skies. Its foundational principle — that states freely choose their alliances and that borders are not changed by force — was directly repudiated by Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea and its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia's December 2021 draft treaties demanding NATO rollback to 1997 lines made explicit a revisionist agenda that European capitals had underestimated. The response has been a structural reordering of the continent: Finland and Sweden joined NATO; the EU granted candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova; sanctions regimes against Russia reached unprecedented breadth; and NATO adopted new regional defence plans with forward-deployed forces in the east. The OSCE, once the principal pan-European security forum, has been largely paralyzed by Russian obstruction, and the CFE Treaty has effectively collapsed. Delegates must grapple with what kind of order can succeed the post-Cold War framework: how Ukraine's security is to be guaranteed, whether and on what terms Russia can be reintegrated into European security architecture, how Belarus's deepening fusion with Russia is handled, and how Western Balkans and South Caucasus security fit into the picture.

Key players

International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture

International defence cooperation has expanded and diversified dramatically since 2022. NATO has enlarged to 32 members, adopted new regional defence plans, and stood up multinational battlegroups along its entire eastern flank from the High North to the Black Sea. The EU has activated the European Peace Facility to fund military aid to Ukraine, launched the first joint ammunition procurement under EDA, and is developing the European Defence Industrial Strategy. Beyond formal institutions, minilateral formats — the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO), the Franco-German-Polish Weimar Triangle, AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific, and the Ramstein-format Ukraine Defense Contact Group — have proliferated. For Sweden and the Nordic-Baltic region, integration is particularly intense: with all five Nordic states now in NATO, the region is being treated as a single operational area, with joint air operations under NORDEFCO, combined planning for Arctic and Baltic defence, and trilateral agreements among the Nordics on crisis cooperation. Defence-Cooperation Agreements (DCAs) between the United States and each of the Nordic states grant U.S. forces access to dozens of bases. At the same time, transatlantic burden-sharing debates, questions about future U.S. commitment levels, and tensions over defence industrial protectionism complicate cooperation. Delegates should consider how to deepen interoperability without duplicating structures, how to balance EU and NATO roles, how to support Ukraine's long-term integration, and how to extend cooperation to Indo-Pacific partners facing linked security challenges.

Key players

Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Sweden's security policy has undergone its most profound transformation in modern history. After abandoning formal neutrality at EU accession in 1995 and pursuing 'military non-alignment' through subsequent decades, Sweden applied for NATO membership jointly with Finland in May 2022 in direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Following a protracted ratification process delayed by Turkey and Hungary, Sweden became NATO's 32nd member on 7 March 2024. This ended over 200 years without formal military alliance and reconnected Swedish defence planning to collective Article 5 deterrence. Domestically, Sweden has reactivated conscription (2017), restored total defence planning, re-established military presence on Gotland, and committed to defence spending above 2% of GDP. Major procurement includes additional Gripen E fighters, new A26 submarines, GlobalEye AEW&C, and expanded air defence. Sweden hosts U.S. forces under the 2024 DCA granting access to 17 bases, and is integrating its forces into NATO's Joint Force Command Norfolk area of responsibility, with particular roles in Baltic Sea security, host nation support for reinforcements, and Arctic operations. The Swedish defence industry — Saab, BAE Systems Hägglunds, and others — remains a significant European supplier. Current policy debates concern the pace and financing of further rearmament, the role of nuclear deterrence on Swedish territory, conscription expansion, civil defence build-up, support to Ukraine, and Sweden's contribution to NATO's collective posture in the High North, Baltic Sea, and beyond.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Swedish Security Forum ’27.

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Swedish Security Forum ’27

Jun 21–22, 2027Stockholm, SwedenIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition · Societal Resilience and Total Defence · Rearmament and the Future of National Defence · The European Security Order After 2022 · International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture · Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Sweden

As the host nation, SWE is deeply invested in regional security and fostering international cooperation to address shared threats.

Role in topic

SWE plays a central role in facilitating dialogue on security issues, often bridging perspectives between different European nations and advocating for multilateral approaches to security challenges.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition

Key players

Societal Resilience and Total Defence

Key players

Rearmament and the Future of National Defence

Key players

The European Security Order After 2022

Key players

International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture

Key players

Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Swedish Security Forum ’27.

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

By committee

Swedish Security Forum ’27

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition

Societal Resilience and Total Defence

Rearmament and the Future of National Defence

The European Security Order After 2022

International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture

Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Resources

The Foreign Affairs Academy 2026 – Third Meeting

AMC Conference 2026

SIPRI Armament and Disarmament Summer School 2026

Contested Democracies at the Crossroads – CBEES Doctoral Summer School

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights (ICPWRDHR)

Frequently asked questions

Swedish Security Forum ’27

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

International Security in an Era of Strategic Competition

Societal Resilience and Total Defence

Rearmament and the Future of National Defence

The European Security Order After 2022

International Defence Cooperation and Alliance Architecture

Sweden's Security and Defence Policy in the NATO Era

Resources

The Foreign Affairs Academy 2026 – Third Meeting

AMC Conference 2026

SIPRI Armament and Disarmament Summer School 2026

Contested Democracies at the Crossroads – CBEES Doctoral Summer School

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights (ICPWRDHR)

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

The Foreign Affairs Academy 2026 – Third Meeting

AMC Conference 2026

SIPRI Armament and Disarmament Summer School 2026

Contested Democracies at the Crossroads – CBEES Doctoral Summer School

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights (ICPWRDHR)

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

The Foreign Affairs Academy 2026 – Third Meeting

AMC Conference 2026

SIPRI Armament and Disarmament Summer School 2026

Contested Democracies at the Crossroads – CBEES Doctoral Summer School

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights

International Conference on Post-War Reconstruction, Development, and Human Rights (ICPWRDHR)

Frequently asked questions