A presentation of Folk och Försvar (Society and Defence) 

Folk och Försvar, in English “Society and Defence”, is in terms of party politics an independent association of democratic national organisations. Through their membership they support an ongoing discussion, debate and education in matters concerning peace, freedom and democracy.

Vision

The vision of Folk och Försvar is to create insights into what factors influence peace, freedom and democracy. Our firm belief is that plurality of views contributes to the development of policy. We therefore aim to be an open arena in which people with different opinions can engage in the development of defence and security policy.

History

"To build a bridge between the society and the defence", that is how the task of Folk och Försvar was introduced in 1940 when the association was initiated. At that time, when World War II was starting, there was a need for an increased understanding of the defence policy. Folk och Försvar was established on the initiative of the Swedish political youth leagues.

There was and still is a need for a security policy forum providing the possibility to discuss various issues among the representatives of the Swedish popular movements. The fall of the Berlin Wall with the following changes in Central and Eastern Europe and the threat of terrorism, for example, have increased the interest in security policy matters.

Mission and organisation

Folk och Försvar is a federation of more than 50 member organisations, including several defence organisations, political youth organisations, trade unions and representatives of Swedish business and trade federations.

Our goal is to:

• Inform in the area of civil and military defence in Sweden by giving objective information about security and defence policy decided by the Swedish Parliament and the Government.
• Promote the debate of security and defence policy by providing different arenas for an open discussion with various opinions.

We do this by:

• Arranging courses, seminars, conferences and study tours.
• Publishing debate and information publications about defence, security and foreign policy.
  

Activities

Rikskonferensen (the Annual National Conference) The Folk och Försvar Annual National Conference is the classic meeting-place for the security and defence policy community of Sweden.

Held each year in January, at a major winter resort in Sweden, it assembles 300 participants and 25-30 speakers for three days of lectures and debates, intertwined with socializing and skiing.

Discussion is encouraged to flow freely in the conference hall as well as in the lounges between parliamentarians, representatives from trade and industry, political parties, government authorities, youth organizations, women's associations, the Swedish church and various NGO’s. The debates are moderated by one of Sweden's topmost journalists, Mr Lars Adaktusson.

The conference usually receives extensive media coverage. The 2008 Annual National Conference was covered by over 50 journalists and was broadcasted by the Swedish television. The conference was also referred to in more than 700 news articles.

Introductory Training in Security Policy: “Minister for a day” Folk och Försvar organizes an introductory training in security policy, in the form of a role-playing exercise that aims to create an understanding of the mechanisms of international relations.

Over the course of a few hours, participants assume the role of government officials in various fictional countries. Each country is culturally different, and they all face their own sets of policy challenges. With less-than-perfect information and a shortness of time, the participants are expected to take decisions that in turn will affect the flow of events during the exercise.

Once the scenario is played through, the role-play master evaluates the exercise together with the participants, drawing parallels to actual international crises.

This introductory training, which is generally highly appreciated by participants, is mainly aimed towards high school students, youth politicians, journalists and persons studying to be teachers of social and political sciences.

Seminars and Panel Discussions Each year, Folk och Försvar arranges several seminars and panel discussions on different topics. The seminars include topics such as ‘Threats and Security in a Globalizing World’, ‘The Vatican in World Politics’ and ‘A Larger Role for Sweden in International Operations?’

These seminars are aimed primarily towards students, youth politicians and members of the Riksdag (Parliament), but also towards the general public.

Study Tours At least one study tour is conducted each year. This gives individuals from the member organisations as well as politicians, journalists and employees at different government agencies the opportunity to visit other countries and learn about their security and defence policies first-hand.

In recent years, these study tours have taken participants to Brussels, Moscow, Warsaw and Paris, to name just a few destinations. These tours typically include visits at government ministries and agencies, think tanks and the local Swedish embassy.

Publications The federation publishes a bimonthly magazine in Swedish entitled ‘Perspektiv’, aimed at anyone with an interest in security and defence policy issues. It features articles covering traditional topics as well as new ones, such as the norm of “Responsibility to Protect”, trans-national organized crime, global oil dependency as a security threat and terrorism.

Finances The activities of Folk och Försvar are mainly financed through a grant from the Ministry of Defence (4,1 million SEK or approx. €430,000), but also through membership fees (0,5 million SEK or approx. €53,000). In addition, some projects are partly financed through project contributions.