Civil-military cooperation at the national level; Cooperation between the Swedish Armed Forces and government authorities with regard to total defence and crisis management

Due to recent changes in both military command system structure and in the Swedish crisis management system, the principles supporting cooperation between the Swedish armed Forces and civil government authorities need to be explored. The purpose of this study is to highlight and discuss the need for, as well as the prerequisite of civil-military cooperation at the national level in Sweden. The report separates civil-military cooperation aiming to defend Sweden should an armed occur, (total defence cooperation) from civil-military cooperation during peacetime crisis management. The role assigned to the Swedish Armed Forces during war, differs from the role assigned to the military during peacetime crisis. Total defence cooperation is about the need to coordinate between independent cilvil and military defence activities. The aim with civil-military cooperation in preparation for, and during peacetime crises, is to create conditions for using military resources in support of civil government authorities during crisis management. The civil-military cooperation that takes place today is mainly about peacetime crisis management. New forms of cooperation between the Swedish Armed Forces and civil government authorities are under development. This process must take into consideration on-going developments such as the future shaping and tasks of the Swedish Armed Forces.