Visby, Gotland
Greetings from the island of Gotland, sometimes referred to as Sweden’s “aircraft carrier” in the Baltic Sea. Indeed, the island’s strategic importance as a commanding height in the region is a recurring theme at this year’s week of political seminars and cocktail parties in Visby—an annual tradition dating back decades.
On Monday evening, your correspondent was invited to give a keynote speech on The Stay Behinds: Sweden’s Cold War Guardians and the lessons to be drawn from the history of the country’s civilian resistance movement. I particularly highlighted the national sentiment that motivated the stay behinds to, sometimes for decades, carry the psychological burden of responsibility for occupation planning.
That sense of duty to country appears increasingly rare among decision makers today. In a panel preceding my talk, civil and total defence—or resilience as the catchphrase is—was discussed in a businesslike manner akin to con…
