The past decade has seen the return of ‘whole-of-society’ approaches to national security. Drawing on research on Sweden and Scandinavia, this talk addresses a key question: what is the role of ‘the people’ in total defence, and is there public support for substantial and sometimes far-reaching changes to defence policy and practice?

Bio:

Joakim Berndtsson is a full professor at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and research fellow at the Swedish Centre for Studies of Armed Forces and Society (CSMS). He is currently a guest professor with the Canadian Defence and Security Network (CDSN-RCDS) at Carleton University. Berndtsson’s research interests include Swedish and Nordic total defence planning and organising, civilian-military collaboration, and public opinion on Swedish defence and security policy.