Peace Propaganda and Submarines: Soviet Policy toward Sweden and Northern Europe

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, as part of an intensified peace propaganda campaign, the Soviet Union has sought to create a nuclear-free zone in Sweden and northern Europe. Simultaneously, it has increased its criticism of Sweden's defense, partly to offset the effects of Soviet submarine violations of Swedish waters. These violations have increased since the stranding of the U-137 in 1981 and have seriously impaired Soviet-Swedish relations. The Soviet leaders perceive new opportunities with the advent of the Social Democrats in Sweden, whose active foreign policy favors détente and disarmament rather than the arms race. Important factors in the background include growing East-West tension, with Soviet superiority in northern Europe, and the political and economic stagnation, militarization, and “KGB-ization” of Soviet society.