Swedish Armed Forces and their participation in foreign military operations under the influence of Sweden's soft power

Sweden is one of the countries with the highest degree of soft power and also one of the countries with the military strength of a small or medium-sized state. The contribution of the diploma thesis lies in the research of the impact of soft power tools on the Swedish Armed Forces in international military operations as a representative of hard power tools. The validity of the diploma thesis is based on this relatively unexplored area. The diploma thesis aims to find out whether selected soft power tools (feminist policy, education system, environmental protection, etc.) have an impact on the armed forces of this country. The mentioned soft power tools are selected on the basis of soft power measurements, on the basis of which Sweden is perceived as a soft power leader. The diploma thesis performs critical discursive analysis using discourse. In this case, official documents and statements by the Swedish Government and the Swedish Armed Forces can be considered discourse. Based on the research, it is concluded that there is an impact of soft power instruments on the international operations of the Swedish Armed Forces. The main benefit of the diploma thesis is the creation of three theoretical models. A positive model can be studied on the issues examined during the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, a neutral model can be observed on research during the MINUSMA mission in Mali, and a negative but hypothetical model can be observed in the Swedish engagement in the UNMHA mission in Yemen. The creation of three models gives space for further research in this area.