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A colossus on clay feet? Mechanisms of inertia in civil-military collaboration within the context of Swedish total defense
Open accessAbstract
The study examines Sweden’s strategy for total defense, emphasizing inter-sectoral collaboration at the regional level. Specifically, it aims to identify potential challenges in such collaboration, leading to the following overarching research question: What are the principal challenges linked to cross-sector collaboration within Sweden’s total defense strategy at the regional level. The study is based on interviews and observations from various collaborative exercises. Six participants from different organizations specializing in total defense collaboration were interviewed. In addition to interviews, six observations were conducted during different collaborative exercises, each resulting in field notes forming the basis for analysis. Data collection took place between August 2022 and October 2023. The analysis of collected data identifies three overarching themes – inability, unwillingness, and lack of synchronization – depicting the challenges of collaboration in total defense. These themes intertwine and construct a complex situation, described as “a colossus on clay feet,” referring to various mechanisms of inertia in civil-military collaboration. The study concludes that the identified themes pose significant theoretical challenges, suggesting inherent vulnerabilities in the concept that may impede its effectiveness, with the most concerning aspect being the inability to address fundamental problems even amidst increased resources and determination, necessitating a focu…
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“Many interviewees in this and previous studies explicitly point to a need for clearer governance structures and more concrete objectives and priorities for collaborative work (Försvarsmakten 2020, pp. 27-29; Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024).”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024
In the citing paper
“In Swedish total defence planning and organizing, civil-military collaboration occurs on many different levels and across multiple sectoral, professional, and organizational boundaries”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024
In the citing paper
“Inter-organizational collaboration issues are clearly central to the development of Sweden's 'new' total defence”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund 2024
In the citing paper
“Research on total defence and crisis management collaboration has shown how a lack of communication, trust and unclear responsibilities, and differences in organizational culture and relationships between key personnel, can impede cross-sectoral or inter-organizational collaboration and governance”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024
In the citing paper
“This analysis is in line with previous research that highlights challenges in Swedish civil-military collaboration (Larsson et al., 2023; Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024; Deiaco, 2024).”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024
In the citing paper
“collaboration is seen as being hampered by both a lack of harmonization in working methods and the unclear regulation of roles (Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024).”
From Navigating Collaboration: Understanding Civil-Military Interactions in Swedish Total Defence From a Security Network Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as Alvinius & Hedlund, 2024
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Sorted by citations
Victor Tillberg, L., Berndtsson, J., & Tillberg, P. (2025) · Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies · doi:10.31374/sjms.288 · Cited by 5
Metadata
- Authors
- Alvinius, A., & Hedlund, E.
- Affiliations
- Swedish Defence University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Alvinius, Aida
- Venue
- Defence Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2024-07-23
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 601-623
- ISSN
- 1470-2436 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-9698
- OpenAlex
- W4400921703
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 12.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Defence Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- wedish Armed Forces Ö
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Military and Defense Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Military Strategy and Technology
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Defense, Military, and Policy Studies
- Keywords
- total defence, civil-military cooperation, intersectoral collaboration, regional defense, barriers to collaboration, synchronization, collaborative exercise
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
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- The paper
- Alvinius, A., & Hedlund, E. (2024). A colossus on clay feet? Mechanisms of inertia in civil-military collaboration within the context of Swedish total defense. Defence Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702436.2024.2380887
