HBC Holmström 2023 11 29 (163 Kb)

"Non-alignment in peace time aimed at neutrality in war" was the formula for Sweden's security policy during the Cold War. During its second half (1969–89), the rhetoric of neutrality was intensified. The Swedish people were told that military cooperation with the West was incompatible with neutrality politics and out of the question. But the reality was different. In his book Den dolda alliansen - Sveriges hemliga Nato-förbindelser, Mikael Holmström shows that Sweden established extensive and increasingly intensive ties with the most important NATO countries for the country. The contacts were kept top secret and informal so as not to be revealed. In his presentation, Holmström also presents his methods and techniques to increase understanding, avoid being tendentious, search for and gain access to confidential written sources, find key people and interview them, evaluate and interpret written and oral sources, find the right tone, outline and demarcation for the book and finally to publish and review findings during the course of the work.