Abstract
Cold War Sweden may be conceptualized as a sovereign and neutral nation-state, and as part of the political formation which is NATO. Inasmuch as NATO is seen as a supranational structure which is in some aspects alternative to the one of the state system based on the principle of sovereignty, this structural divide must necessarily characterize any state which is also part of the NATO structure. The structure divide may be observed as a split between different power elites. Because of its formal non-membership of NATO, however, the divide may be more readily investigated in the case of elites in Sweden than in formal member states. Drawing on Carl Schmitt's concept of Grossraum, the article musters empirical evidence that there is an informal supranational NATO structure which serves as the final guarantee of Western security.
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