This project investigates crucial but challenging-to-identify non-military threats to Swedish democracy and security from Russia. Through strategic trade and financial operations, the Kremlin has advanced geopolitical and economic interests in Sweden and Europe, a long-term effort dependent on collaborations with political and economic elites in the West – manipulating markets, laundering money, and influencing perceptions of Russia.
New research in Europe and the USA has demonstrated how mutual dependencies between Kremlin and Western actors destabilize institutions by reshaping markets and regulatory systems. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding how this dynamic has operated specifically in Sweden. This investigation aims to generate firsthand knowledge about the practices, mechanisms, and networks that the Kremlin employs – with the assistance of actors in Sweden, Europe, and the USA – to influence institutions within Swedish politics, economy, and civil society.
The project brings together unique academic investigative expertise from the finance and energy sectors with new research on political and economic elites, social networks, corruption, and Russian economic history. The results will concretize and sharpen analyses of military-strategic market influence and organized corruption, clarify mechanisms in various forms of oligarchic capitalism, and the new knowledge about the Kremlin's penetration program will provide a solid foundation for measures to disarm threats, protect Swedish institutions, and enhance national preparedness.
