By Jonathan Michael Feldman, April 14, 2022 The Russian Reaction to Finland’s and Sweden’s Move to NATO Weeks into Russia’s barbaric attack on Ukraine, some wonder what the proper policy solution is. Is the solution for countries like Sweden and Finland to deepen military aliances or is the solution to pair them back? Should one…
Continue readingSweden, NATO & Russian Threats: The Selective Use of Security Expertise
By Jonathan Michael Feldman, April 7, 2022, Updated April 9, 2022 Ecological Xenophobia as Metaphor The photograph above is of the newly named courier firm, Bara Posten. This company used to be called “Ryska Posten” in Swedish, which means “the Russian post.” The reason for the name change, according to one news report, was “to…
By Jonathan Michael Feldman, April 2, 2022 On April 1, 2022, Dagens Nyheter published this editorial: “The arguments of NATO opponents do not stand up to reality.” The editorial points out that “Sweden has not been alliance-free for a long time. Non-aligned countries do not allow US troops to practice on their territory, nor do…
By Jonathan Michael Feldman, March 22, 2022, Updated March 23 and March 25, 2022 This essay reviews some of the left militarist arguments for weapons shipments to Ukraine. Based on the Swedish case, I hypothesize that these arguments come from a lack of understanding about the logic of militarism. Priority number 1 is to end…
Continue readingStockholm Syndrome 2022: The Faustian Bargain of Left Militarism in Ukraine
By Jonathan M. Feldman, March 20, 2022 The Azov batalian is used to equate Ukraine with Nazis. Yet, the story of Ukraine is far more complicated. Some of Ukraine’s Nazi problem even comes from Sweden: The Azov battalion “has drawn far-right volunteers from abroad, such as Mikael Skillt, a 37-year-old Swede, trained as a sniper…
By Jonathan Michael Feldman, March 14, 2022 The article, “Dags att bita i det sura äpplet,” written by Mats Åberg advocating Swedish NATO membership in Dagens Arena, published March 14, 2022, is quite unfortunate. It ignores numerous facts and realities. First, it follows the logic of the “magical mantra” in which any Swedish move is…
Continue readingDagens Arena’s Pro-NATO Article by Mats Åberg: A Brief Critique
By Jonathan Michael Feldman, March 11, 2022 Russia is engaged in a hideous and immoral war. There’s no point in excusing Russia or being a “useful idiot” for Russian militarism. Yet, there is a point in understanding Russia’s security logic and how it’s not that different from those who want to join NATO or Swedish…
Continue readingNATO Logic or Magical Mantras? A Critique of Gunnar Hökmark’s Swedish NATO Appeal
This mural, a fossil and highpoint of Sweden’s anti-militarist culture, was unveiled at the Östermalmstorg subway station in 1965. One key slogan engraved in concrete says, “Down with weapons.” It is obvious that on the question of war the Marxist tradition presents neither unity nor clarity. One point was common to all the Marxist trends:…
Continue readingSweden’s Military Transfer to Ukraine for Beginners