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Annika Björkdahl

Annika Björkdahl

Professor

Annika Björkdahl

Ideas and Norms in Swedish Peace Policy

Author

  • Annika Björkdahl

Summary, in English

Challenging conventional wisdom that powerful states do as they will and small states do as they must, this article advances an analysis of small states and the role they can play as agents of change in the area of peace and security. Insights from constructivist research on foreign policy contribute to explain why some small states adopt norm entrepreneurship as a diplomatic strategy and how such strategy helps small states punch above their weight in international relations. The article is based on an in-depth case study of Sweden as a norm entrepreneur promoting the norm pertaining to the prevention of violent conflicts in the EU and UN, and it assesses the impact of the following strategies used by such a norm entrepreneur: norm construction, agenda-shaping, coalition-building, and support of institutionalisation.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2013

Language

English

Pages

322-337

Publication/Series

Swiss Political Science Review

Volume

19

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Political Science

Keywords

  • Small States
  • Constructivism
  • Foreign policy
  • Norm entrepreneur
  • Conflict Prevention

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1424-7755