Questions and answers about
Crisis management and Total Defense

Total defense consists of military operations (military defense) and civilian operations (civil defense). Section 1 of the Act (1992:1403) on total defense and heightened preparedness states that total defense is the activity needed to prepare Sweden for war. In order to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities, preparedness can be increased. Heightened alertness is either heightened alertness or the highest alertness. During maximum readiness, total defense is all social activities that must then be carried out.

The Defense Committee has stated on two occasions that an armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out. This finding is based on the fact that the security policy situation has deteriorated in Sweden’s immediate area. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea are contrary to the UN’s prohibition of violence and have fundamentally challenged the European security order. Russian actions in Georgia in 2008 and in Syria since 2015 show a Russian willingness to use military means to achieve political goals inside and outside Europe. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that the importance of the transatlantic link is uncertain; how will the USA relate to Europe in terms of security policy. Is the United States to be reckoned with? Another factor that makes the situation unpredictable and uncertain is that Sweden, with its geographical location between NATO and Russia, can be an interesting target for actors who want to expand their zone of interest.

All in all, this meant that Sweden’s Parliament decided in June 2015 on a new direction for Sweden’s defense policy for the period 2016–2020. The two most important parts of the decision are to 1) improve the armed forces’ combat capability and 2) establish a total defense. With this decision as a basis, in the fall of 2015 the government gave directives to several so-called authorities responsible for guarding to begin planning to build a total defense. The directives covered not only planning but also an increase in the capacity of the entire total defense.

Since 2017, the Defense Committee, tasked with preparing the next defense decision (2021–2025), has presented two reports. These describe, among other things, major shortcomings in the civilian part of total defense. They also recommend extensive measures with associated financial resources to remedy the deficiencies.

If you want to learn more about how the Parliament and the government reason about the future of Swedish total defense, we can recommend Resilience The direction of the total defense and the design of the civil defense 2021–2025 (Ds 2017:66) and Värnkraft – The direction of the security policy and the design of the military defense 2021–2025 (Ds 2019:8).

Total defense is a national concern that requires the commitment of the entire society. The Parliament and the government have stated that Sweden must cope with a serious security policy crisis and ultimately war.

During maximum preparedness and war, total defense is all social activities that must then be carried out. Total defense must therefore work in war. Defending our country and protecting our security, freedom, independence and freedom of action is not only a military task but a responsibility for the whole society, i.e. authorities, regions, municipalities, companies and voluntary organisations. This also means that Sweden’s population needs to make personal efforts. Everyone is affected!

The total defense planning that is currently underway is based on:

• The Parliament’s decision
• Government directives
• Responsibilities and duties of authorities responsible for surveillance in crises and high alert
• Municipalities and regions responsibility to plan and manage extraordinary events and heightened preparedness
• Companies’ obligation to participate in total defense planning.

The work of resuming total defense planning and increasing the country’s overall total defense capability must be based on crisis management. In the title, the two concepts of high alert and war are mentioned. Broken down further, the concept of heightened preparedness contains two subordinate concepts: heightened preparedness and highest preparedness.

1. Increased preparedness.
According to the Act (1992:1403) on total defense and heightened preparedness, the government may decide on heightened preparedness if Sweden is in danger of war or if there are special conditions caused by war outside Sweden’s borders. Heightened preparedness gives society the opportunity to gradually step up operations based on the needs of total defense. The armed forces organize war to the extent that the government decides.

2. Highest preparedness.
ccording to the same law, the government may decide on maximum preparedness. In addition, the law states that if Sweden finds itself at war, the highest level of preparedness prevails. If there is to be a state of emergency throughout the country, the government can decide that this should be announced through emergency alarms. In the event of an emergency alert, the entire Armed Forces must be organized for war and municipalities and county councils, etc., must transition into war organization. In the event of an emergency alert, a number of special regulations must be applied. However, the government can decide on maximum preparedness without it being a war. Such a decision may be considered the most powerful raising of the threshold against an attack on Sweden.

3. War.
According to earlier reasoning in the document, war must be considered to prevail when Sweden has decided on a declaration of war according to the form of government.

The reason why the defense committee uses the term “heightened preparedness and war” is that they want to use a collective term for measures when total defense is activated.

The clearest difference is that during a war we are exposed to an aggressor or as some would like to call it an antagonistic threat. Others express it rather as we are attacked by an enemy.

An attacker has a plan for how to defeat us. The attacker is assumed to be well equipped, organized and trained for his task. The attacker uses all available resources and measures to achieve that objective. The attacker seeks to find and exploit our weaknesses and attacks our centers of gravity, that which is important to us as a nation.

Another big difference between crisis and war is that in a war, the independence and survival of the nation of Sweden is at stake.

The implication is that in a war, all of Sweden’s resources must be mobilized in order to not lose the war. The two measures that need to be given the highest priority are the military operation to repel the attack and the maintenance of the resilience of the entire population.

With concentration and prioritization comes one thing that we often forget or deliberately ignore: if we are to succeed, everything that has nothing to do with the prioritized actions needs to be prioritized down or preferably completely de-prioritized. Only in that way can we succeed, especially when the conditions are so deteriorated after the dismantling of the national defense during the strategic time-out.

In this context, it is useful to remember the words of Frederick the Great of Prussia: He who wants to protect everything, protects nothing!

A continuity plan is a plan for managing risks identified in e.g. a risk and vulnerability analysis. The plan must create the conditions for important operations to be conducted without interruption, and if interruptions do occur, the consequences must be minimal.

A contingency plan is a broader concept that has been used in many parts of society in different contexts, but today perhaps especially in civil contingency planning.

Read more here.

The directive on networks and information systems (NIS) and the Swedish application of the directive law (2018:1174) on information security for socially important and digital services is a result of the EU’s assessment that there is an increased need to ensure the functionality and availability of several socially important services. This must be done through risk-based systematic information security work. The businesses affected by NIS operate, among other things, in energy, transport, drinking water supply, healthcare, banking and financial market infrastructure, digital infrastructure and certain digital services. The authority for social security and preparedness (MSB) has issued regulations which, among other things, contain criteria for who may be covered, which varies from sector to sector. A provider of a socially important service can be a government authority, a municipality, a region or a private company.

Total defense is all the activities needed to prepare Sweden for war. During maximum readiness, total defense is all social activities that must then be carried out. Total defense consists of military operations (military defense) and civilian operations (civil defense). Total defense consists of public and private actors. Sweden’s Parliament and government have expressed that an armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out and therefore Sweden’s Parliament has decided that the total defense must be rebuilt.

The government has tasked several authorities with starting and deepening the work, and before the next defense policy period (2021–2026) we can probably expect clearer directives and requirements for socially important activities and providers of socially important services. The work that is done to, for example, ensure the functionality and availability of vital services (NIS) is important for Sweden’s overall defense and capability.

If you are a private or public provider of a socially important service, you should ask yourself whether this service should also be delivered/or be available during serious crises and even war.

If you want to learn more about information security, the standards are in the ISO 27000 series. More about NIS can be found in the Act (2018:1174) on information security for socially important and digital services.

Regarding the requirements for risk-based systematic information security work, we refer to paragraphs 11–14:

• § 11 Suppliers of socially important services must conduct systematic and risk-based information security work regarding networks and information systems that they use to provide socially important services.
• Section 12 Suppliers of socially important services must carry out a risk analysis which shall be the basis for choosing security measures according to Sections 13 and 14. The analysis must include an action plan. The analysis must be documented and updated annually.
• § 13 Suppliers of socially important services must take appropriate and proportionate technical and organizational measures to manage risks that threaten the security of networks and information systems that they use to provide socially important services. The measures must ensure a level of security in the networks and information systems that is appropriate in relation to the risk.
• 1§ 14 Suppliers of socially important services must take appropriate measures to prevent and minimize the effects of incidents affecting networks and information systems that they use to provide socially important services. The measures must aim to ensure the continuity of the services.

If the loss of the socially important service has little impact on Sweden’s security, then the NIS legislation is overridden by the security protection legislation.

More can be read and obtained on MSB’s website. There is also more information about total defense.

Both the Act (2018:1174) on information security for socially important and digital services and the Act (1992:1403) on total defense and heightened preparedness cover public and private activities. Both laws aim to ensure the functionality of services and deliveries that are important to Sweden, but the law on information security for socially important and digital services focuses only on information security and demands systematic information security work in everyday life. Total defense refers to all activities that must function during high alert and war (please see other questions and answers for more information!).

We cannot expect that the availability and functionality we have and/or agree to in peace or peacetime crises can be maintained in war, but even now operational managers need to plan in order to be able to maintain a predetermined minimum level in war for, for example, electricity supply, drinking water supply, healthcare , medicines and more.

Total defense is a matter for the whole of Sweden and requires the commitment of the whole society. The parliament and the government have stated that Sweden must cope with a serious security policy crisis and ultimately war. Therefore, the Parliament decided in June 2015 that the development of total defense is a priority area during the period 2016 – 2020. Consequently, in December 2015, the government tasked several Swedish authorities with the task of starting total defense planning and the development of total defense.

The comprehensive legislation that regulates the obligations, activities and more of society’s actors in total defense remains. It was not removed when the Swedish total defense was dismantled in the early 1990s. Therefore, it can be said that the entire Swedish society (from central and regional authorities to municipalities and regions, private actors, voluntary organizations and citizens) is affected by the “total defense investment” and the requirements that follow from it.

According to the regulation (2015:1053) on total defense and high alert, all government agencies are obliged to take into account the requirements of total defense in their operations and must plan to be able to continue operations as far as possible even during high alert. According to today’s regulations, certain authorities have a special responsibility for peacetime crisis management and before and during heightened preparedness. These authorities are so-called authorities responsible for surveillance and, according to the regulation (2015:1052) on crisis management and actions of authorities responsible for surveillance in the event of heightened alertness, among other things, obligations to undertake additional preparations required within their respective areas of responsibility in the event of heightened alertness. This may involve, for example, identifying personnel who are to be trained and practiced and acquiring the supplies and equipment they need to complete their tasks at high alert. The authorities responsible for guarding must, in the case of heightened preparedness, primarily focus their activities on tasks that are important for total defense.

According to the regulation (2017:870) on the county administrations‘ crisis management and duties in case of heightened preparedness, the county administrations are the highest civilian total defense authority within the county and must therefore focus their efforts on achieving a disruptive defense effect. The County Administrative Board must, for example, coordinate the civil defense measures and work to ensure that the county’s assets are distributed and utilized so that defense efforts are promoted. If Sweden is at war and the connection between part of the kingdom and the government cannot be maintained, or if immediate measures must be taken, the county administrative board may fulfill some of the government’s tasks within its area.

Regions and municipalities are important actors at the regional and local level, respectively. Their tasks and obligations before and in the event of heightened preparedness are regulated in the Act (2006:544) on the measures of municipalities and county councils before and in the event of extraordinary events in peacetime and heightened preparedness and in the associated ordinance. Among other things, regions and municipalities must draw up plans to maintain their operations under high alert. In the case of heightened preparedness, the county council board is responsible for the management of the civil health and medical care. In the municipalities, the municipal board is responsible under high alert for the management of the part of the civil defense that the municipality must conduct. Municipalities must, in case of heightened preparedness, work to coordinate the activities conducted in the municipality by various actors.

The business sector today carries out a large part of the socially important activities that are carried out in, for example, healthcare, energy supply, transport, food supply and municipal services. There are statutory requirements for business to participate in total defense planning. For example, companies are obliged to contribute the information about their operations that a total defense authority may need for its planning. In the case of heightened preparedness, legislation gives the state far-reaching opportunities to dispose of private resources if needed for defense preparedness. However, it is of the utmost importance that such disposal is already planned so that it can be applied in the event of heightened preparedness and war, so that the goals of Sweden’s total defense can be achieved.

The basis of Sweden’s total defense is the citizens of the nation. The Act (1994:1809) on the duty of total defense provides conditions for access to personnel in the total defense, ultimately by allowing the state to apply coercive measures. Total compulsory military service applies to every Swedish citizen between the ages of 16 and 70.

The legal framework that regulates total defense is extensive and which supervisory authority it is depends on which law and or regulation is referred to.

If you want to know more, we recommend that you purchase the Total defense’s Constitution Handbook!

In the defense policy direction for 2016-2020, it was stated that total defense capabilities before and during an attack need to be strengthened, as an armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out. Nor can it be ruled out that military force or the threat of such force may be used against Sweden. If a security policy crisis or armed conflict arises in our vicinity, Sweden will be affected. Thus, total defense must be designed and dimensioned to be able to meet an armed attack against Sweden and acts of war on Swedish territory. The goal is that a strong Swedish total defense is war deterrent and thus preventive and ultimately peacekeeping.

If you want to know more about the starting points for the planning and the nature of the armed attack, we recommend that you read the report Motståndskraft. Ds 2017:66: orientation of total defense and design of civil defense 2021-2025.

There are several ways and we advise you to keep it simple, i.e. understandable, manageable and meaningful. First of all, you should think about and analyze your role in total defense. What is it? Has the sectoral authority announced what it thinks the sector needs to do? Do you provide a service or product that is essential to society and do you think it is needed even in times of high alert and war? There are then a number of steps to be taken to clarify responsibilities, delivery, dependencies, tasks, needs, etc. in high alert and war. Another part of the planning is to analyze your current situation and, based on the dimensional threat picture, continue the work of investigating different options. The work then continues in several steps so that you finally have a plan for what activities will be conducted and what those activities will look like in high preparedness and war.

Are you in the business sector? Then you may find that you have no direct requirements or clear directives for how this should be done? Perhaps you can wait for more directives or start now? You can also include total defense (risks, threats, consequences, etc.) in everyday risk management and continuity management. We recommend starting now because then you can participate in influencing the planning, tasking, etc. and position yourself for the continued work of building Sweden’s total defense.

If you want to know more, you can contact Basalt AB. We know total defense planning and the first meeting is free of charge!

No, but during 2019 and 2020 the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) has been working to supplement the Swedish Guidance for continuity management, SS 22304:2014 with an appendix for continuity management during high alert. Basalt AB has participated in this work, together with MSB, the Swedish Armed Forces and others.

On MSB’s website, there are several tools for war deployment, how to assess a municipality’s war capability and more.

In 1935, German General Erich Ludendorff wrote the book ‘Der totale Krieg’ – The Total War. In it he describes that a modern war will include both the military and civilian components of states. Ludendorff’s call for his countrymen to pool Germany’s resources for total war prompted other countries, including Sweden, to pool their resources for total defense.

During the Second World War and the Cold War, there were discussions about total defense. These included how the civilian population would survive bombing attacks.

The 1974 Defense Committee was the first to be tasked with addressing total defense as a whole. Since then, the concept of total defense has been part of defense policy. During the so-called strategic timeout period (1995 to 2015), no actual total defense activities were carried out. Since the 2015 defense decision, building up total defense is one of two priority tasks.

Since 1992, total defense is defined and regulated in the Act on Total Defense and High Alert (1992:1403), the first paragraph of which deals specifically with the concept of total defense.

To learn more, read Bo Richard Lundgren’s article Totalförsvarets tillkomst och utveckling in the book Totalförsvaret under Sveriges kalla krig (Printfabriken, Karlskrona, 2011).

It is true that in ancient times a written declaration of war was often passed from one country to another to declare that they were at war with each other,

The concept of a declaration of war still exists in our legal system, but with a completely different, very important, meaning.

In the Instrument of Government, one of Sweden’s four constitutions, war and the threat of war are regulated in the fifteenth chapter. This includes a provision on declaring war.

A declaration of war under the Constitution means that the government authorities declare to the Swedish people, and also to other countries and actors, that Sweden considers itself to be at war. This automatically means that the highest level of preparedness according to the Act on Total Defense and Highest Readiness – highest readiness – is adopted. Highest preparedness means that the entire society is prepared for war. This includes general mobilization and the entry into force of a number of proxy laws.

The declaration of war has become particularly interesting and important when we now talk about the gray zone, a state between peace and war, where an aggressor affects Sweden with the aim of ensuring that we do not perceive ourselves as being attacked. If Sweden issues a declaration of war during a gray zone phase, with all that entails, the difficulties for an actor who wants to attack Sweden increase significantly. The threshold for an attack is raised dramatically by a Swedish declaration of war.

Everyone also realizes that a decision to declare war during a grey zone phase is one of the most difficult decisions that governments have to make. On the one hand, it is important to take the decision early on so that the threshold can be raised in the face of a presumed attack, and the attack preferably never takes place. On the other hand, the consequences are far-reaching if the whole of Sweden is placed in a state of war ‘unnecessarily’. Politicians who make such a decision “unnecessarily” will have a difficult campaign in the next parliamentary elections.

If you want to learn more, please read Chapter 15 of the Instrument of Government (1974:152).

The concept of armed attack has its origins in the UN Charter. It basically includes a ban on the international use of force. There are two exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force, one of which is that each state has the right to individual or collective self-defense in the event of an armed attack.

The concept of war is not entirely easy to define. The National Encyclopedia describes war as the use of organized military force to achieve political goals. According to a definition from Uppsala University, there is war in an area when at least 1,000 people die there each year due to acts of war.

For current Swedish conditions, it is most correct to speak of war when there is a declaration of war according to the answer to question two above. This means that an armed attack against Sweden has resulted in the state authorities issuing a declaration of war.

Some writers and debaters believe that we are already at war, including in the cyber arena and through influence operations. While it has certain points rhetorically, it cannot be considered right to express the matter in that way. There are other nuances of the Swedish language to express that cyber attacks and influence operations are extremely serious.

It would be clearer to both citizens and the environment that when we talk about Sweden’s situation, we rather use the concept that we can end up in war instead of that we can be exposed to armed attack. Thus, we would also be clear that we will not give up in the event of an armed attack, but in every situation declare war when we consider ourselves exposed to an armed attack.

If you want to learn more, please read the Charter of the United Nations (UN Charter).

Within the Armed Forces, the word threshold effect has been used for some years among four other factors as the Armed Forces’ vision. In the Armed Forces’ military strategic doctrine from 2016, it is stated that “Threshold is created by the fact that the costs of an attack are unreasonable for the attacker”.

More refined, the threshold effect can be defined as any measures that cause a potential attacker to hesitate and hopefully finally refrain from attacking Sweden.

The most obvious and most often related to threshold effect is the number, quality and readiness of our combat forces. In addition to combat forces, threshold effect is constituted by many other measures if the above definition is applied. The first is good international contacts. If Sweden has many good contacts with other countries and organizations that, in the event of an attack, could deliver help and support with resources or go to war to support Sweden, this raises the threshold for attacks.

Likewise, every small and large measure to improve defense capabilities in both military and civil defense can increase the threshold effect. This could, for example, involve improving the protection of the electricity grids, establishing a fortification-protected wiring site within a municipality, and expanding stocks of medicines and healthcare equipment. It can also involve individuals storing supplies to last up to a week and much more. The most important threshold-raising measure is that the population as a whole has a will to defend itself, which in the event of an armed attack is the basis for Sweden’s resilience. Any potential aggressor who has studied the history of Finland’s wars in World War II and the Vietnam War realizes the fundamental importance of the will to defend and the power of resistance.

During the Cold War, the word war deterrence was often used to mean the same thing as threshold effect.

Even earlier, the Roman writer Vegetius expressed in the fourth century: “Si vis pecem, para bellum” (If you want peace, prepare for war). It is a variation on the same theme, which has been used by many politicians and military leaders.

If you want to learn more, please read the Armed Forces’ Military Strategic Doctrine 2016 (MSD 16).

Crisis management is about strengthening society’s ability to manage and reduce the risks of accidents and crises that threaten our security. The purpose of Swedish crisis management is to protect the life and health of the population, the functionality of society and the ability to maintain our fundamental values such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights and freedoms, damage to property and the environment. Crisis management in Sweden is based on collaboration between authorities, regions, municipalities, companies and voluntary organizations. These are part of the civil defense.

Civil defense has its starting point in society’s crisis management. The purpose of the civil defense is to protect the civilian population, ensure the most important social functions and to support the military defense, the Armed Forces, to meet an armed attack on Sweden.

The main task of the military defense is to defend Sweden against an armed attack, and consists of our Armed Forces. The Swedish Armed Forces is an authority responsible for the country’s security in the event of heightened preparedness and war.

The armed forces have four main tasks

• Claim Sweden’s borders if national integrity is violated.

• If Sweden is attacked by another state, the Swedish Armed Forces must be able to defend the country with armed force and prevent occupation.

• The armed forces must support the rest of society

• The armed forces must also work for peace and security with peacekeeping efforts around the host.

The military defense must be able to rely on receiving support from the civil defense to solve its task.

Total defense is all the activities that are carried out to strengthen defense capabilities and be able to resist an armed attack on Sweden. Total defense includes military defense and civil defense.

Total defense includes all of society’s resources. What must be protected are people’s lives and health, the functionality of society, democracy, legal certainty and human freedoms and rights, the environment and economic values as well as national sovereignty.

Conscription: All women and men between the ages of 16 and 70 and living in Sweden are part of Sweden’s total defense and are subject to conscription. Also applies to those who are not Swedish citizens.

There are three types of total defense duty:

• Conscription within the military defense.
• Civil duty, for example within the rescue service or the Armed Forces.
• General service obligation that only applies in case of heightened alertness.

More info here. 

Employed personnel may be deployed as decided by the employer. A decision on military placement of persons liable for military service has no legal effect and in itself entails no obligations for the individual. These only come into effect when there is a heightened level of preparedness and the government has prescribed general duty. War deployment of personnel is important for the authorities and other organizations that have tasks within total defense.

More info here. 

Service or infrastructure that maintains or ensures societal functions necessary for society’s basic needs, values, or safety regardless of disruption.

Willingness to defend is important in the event of an attack by a foreign power. Willingness to defend is a person who has the will to do and contribute to the defense of the country – for its construction or to stand up against an aggressor.

In a war situation, Sweden needs soldiers, industrial workers, truck drivers, teachers, preschool staff, policemen, firefighters, medical staff, janitors and many other professional groups. Almost everyone can, through their work, contribute to the will to defend and thus strengthen the defense capability.

Authorities with special importance for society’s crisis management and total defense. The emergency authorities must have a good ability to resist threats and risks, prevent vulnerabilities, handle peacetime crisis situations and carry out their tasks in the event of heightened alertness and war. The emergency authorities are 60 in number, of which 10 have been given extended responsibilities such as sector managers.

21 county administrations have been established in six civil areas where the County Administrations in Norrbotten, Örebro, Stockholm, Östergötland, Västra Götaland and Skåne counties will be responsible for civil areas. The authority structure entered into force on 1 October 2022.