A genealogy of Swedish psychological defence: Information influence as a shifting problem for democratic governance

Contemporary research observes how foreign information influence presents a governing challenge for liberal democratic states. Less attention has been paid to how this governing dilemma emerged in its present form. This article outlines a genealogy of the long-standing Swedish strategy of psychological defence with the aim of tracing historical trajectories of liberal democratic thinking about information influence. Drawing on official reports from 1953, 1983 and 2020 to assess how information influence emerges as a legitimate object for democratic governance, the analysis shows an evolution in the problematizations underpinning the democratic response. Information influence transitions from being a problem in war, to a problem and a response to uncertainty and, finally, to an everyday threat. Contributing to a critical literature on information influence, the article shows how these problematizations work to configure the roles of democratic authorities, civil society actors, and individual citizens in psychological defence, arguing that contemporary challenges spring from viewing influence as an everyday threat. Proposing an alternative way of thinking, and speaking to research criticizing the current preoccupation with ‘foreignness’ in the contemporary discourse, the article shows how Cold War distinctions between war and peace helped in foregrounding domestic vulnerabilities and the politics of resilience.