1969-1990







Sweden since 1990


Administration . King Carl XVI. Gustaf rules since 1973. The office of PM was held by Inger Gösta Carlsson (SAP) 1986-1991, by Carl Bildt (MS) 1991-1994, by Inger Gösta Carlsson (SAP) 1994-1996, by Göran Persson (SAP) 1996-2006, by Fredrik Reinfeldt (MS) since 2006. Parliamentary elections were held in 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. The capital is Stockholm.

Foreign Policy . Sweden applied for EU membership in 1990 and was admitted in 1995 (which meant Sweden left EFTA). In 2001 Sweden implemented the stipulations of the Schengen agreement and abolished regular controls at her borders with Norway, Finland and Denmark. Sweden did not introduce the Euro when it was launched in 2002.
Sweden is actively involved in international affairs, supported the ANC during the Apartheid Era, regularly contributes forces to UN peacekeeping missions. At the same time Sweden stays out of multinational military operations, remains true to her longstanding policy of neutrality. Sweden cultivates good-neighbourly relations with her Nordic neighbours.
Swede Hans Blix, as IAEA inspector searching for WMD in Iraq, made headlines as he proposed an extension of inspections, as opposed to the U.S. administration which planned, and then implemented, military action against Iraq.

Political History .
Change of Government . From 1936 to 1976 Sweden had experienced 40 years of uninterrupted Social Democratic rule; the SAP would continue to be an important force in Swedish politics, providing PMs for 1982-1991 and 1994-2006; during the years 1976-1982, 1991-1994 and since 2006 parties other than the SAP provided the PM. The policies of modern Sweden, from the welfare state aspect to her traditional neutrality, her diplomacy, her treatment of asylum seekers and labour immigrants, are widely associated with social democracy. The competitors of the SAP, emphasizing alternative political philosophies, occasionally were successful in winning elections, but when in government for a few years alienated voters who felt more comfortable with a Social Democratic-led administration. Sweden long had been a one-big-party-and-a-number-of-second-rate-parties-lacking-profile-system. Only in the 1990es did MS (the Moderate Coalition Party, former Conservatives) emerge as an alternative to the SAP, did Sweden move toward a two-party system.
Crisis of the Welfare State . Sweden, widely regarded the archetype of a welfare state, in the early 1990es experienced a crisis. The welfare state, as it was, had become unsustainable; unemployment rose drastically. The government mediated an agreement of the political parties, trade unions and employers' federations regarding cuts in the welfare state; Sweden applied for EU membership. Sweden is still a welfare state, but the scope of the benefits has been reduced.
Rising Xenophobia . Scandinavians in the 1960es were under the impression that urban terrorism in central, western and southern Europe were phenomena of only partially democratized societies where the state still exercized a degree of suppression, for instance laws in the FRG banning Communists from taking employment as teachers; they thought that Scandinavia was immune to such violence; Sweden in the 1960es actually had received immigrants from the FRG and other European countries who had come to live in a free society. Unemployment rose in the 1980es and 1990es, and with it xenophobia emerged as some Swedes blamed the presence and influx of foreigners for the lack of jobs. The assassination of PM Olof Palme in 1986 and of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in 2003 destroyed the myth of Scandinavia being an island of harmony.

The Economy . In the early 1990es Sweden experienced a severe recession, in 1996 to 2000 a period of solid economic groth, a short recession 2001-2003 and a period of further solid economic growth since 2004. In the early 1990es Sweden underwent reforms which were to reduce the excessive costs of the Swedish welfare state, and to increase the competitiveness of the country's industries. Sweden in 1995 joined the EU and WTO, but did not introduce the Euro when it was launched in 2002. Swedish brands such as Volvo, Saab, Scania, Ericsson, SKF and IKEA enjoy recognition worldwide.
Since 2000, Sweden is connected by a combination of bridge and tunnel with Copenhagen, Denmark.

Social History . A 1990 census counted 8.59 inhabitants of Sweden; the number for July 2007 is estimated at 9.03 million.
Sweden traditionally has accepted asylum seekers as well as labour immigrants (which, in many other European countries, were labelled by the euphemistic term 'guest workers'. The number of refugees and asylum seekers from Iraq in Sweden was reported at 25,900 in March 2003, at 60 to 70,000 in April 2004, at 79,200 in Dec. 2006. Those who enter Sweden with the purpose to stay are enrolled in Swedish language courses.

Cultural History . Swedish athletes participated in the Summer Olympics of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, and in the Winter Olympics of Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006. Golfer Annika Sörenstam, alpine skier Anja Pärson, tennis player Stefan Edberg were/are leaders in their respective sports. Sweden always was competitive in the Nordic sports, such as cross country skiing and ice hockey. The Swedish men's national ice hockey team won Olympic gold in 1994 and 2006, the world championships in 1998 and 2006.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles Politics of Sweden, Elections in Sweden, Carl Bildt, Ingvar Carlsson, Göran Persson, Hans Blix, Economy of Sweden, Sweden at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Sweden at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Sweden at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sweden at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Sweden at the 1992 Winter Olympics, Sweden at the 1994 Winter Olympics, Sweden at the 1998 Winter Olympics, Sweden at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Swedish National Men's Ice Hockey Team, Stefan Edberg, Anja Pärson, from Wikipedia
The Welfare State, from Swedish History - The Modern Age, from ufb.boras
Undermining the Welfare State in Sweden, by Tor Wennerberg, from Z Magazine 1995
The Civil Society in the Welfare State, by Karin Busch Zetterberg, from ValueScope
Chronology of Swedish History, 1980-2001 by Ken Polsson
Schengen Agreement, from Embassy of Sweden
Timeline, from BBC News
The Ups and Downs of the Swedish Welfare State, by H.L. Ginsburg and M.G. Rosenthal
DOCUMENTS Swedish banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money and from Currency Museum
REFERENCE Article : Sweden, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1990-1991 pp.1148-1163, 1991-1992 pp.1151-1166, 1992-1993 pp.1239-1250, 1993-1994 pp.1243-1254, 1994-1995 pp.1243-1254, 1995-1996 pp.1231-1241, 1996-1997 pp.1208-1218, 1997-1998 pp.1208-1217, 1998-1999 pp.1320-1329, 2000 pp.1483-1493, 2001 pp.1451-1461, 2002 pp.1505-1516, 2003 pp.1503-1514, 2004 pp.1522-1533, 2005 pp.1531-1543, 2006 pp.1540-1552 [G]
Entry : Travel Warning - Sweden, pp.610-612, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Kingdom of Sweden, Cabinet p.95, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Entry : Sweden, pp.948-953 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : Sweden, in : Americana Annual 1992 pp.506-508, 1993 pp.517-518, 1994 pp.519-520, 1998 p.524, 2006 p.361 [G]
Article : Sweden, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1991 pp.462-463, 707, 1992 pp.442, 707, 1993 pp.456, 722, 1994 pp.455-456, 722, 1995 pp.477-478, 722, 1996 pp.474-475, 722, 1997 pp.477, 720, 2002 pp.497, 734 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on October 14th 2006, last revised on July 22nd 2007

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