Thursday, October 26, 2006

Swedish Skeptics

Swedish reader and commenter XY has sent this translation of an article from yesterday’s Dagens Nyheter. The article reports that a recent study shows that Swedes are not particularly keen on cooperating with the United States.

However, if it’s any consolation, they don’t seem to have much enthusiasm about cooperating with anyone else, either:

Swedes are the most USA-skeptical in Scandinavia

Swedes are the Nordic countries’s most USA-skeptical people. Only one in ten Swede thinks that long term cooperation with the USA is important — as against every second Dane.

The Nordic Council has investigated the Nordic people’s attitude to cross-national cooperation. And the by far least interested are the Swedes.
- - - - - - - - - -
Cecilia Malmström“It is troubling,” says the EU minister Cecilia Malmström.

One of the questions in this major investigation is: “Are there any countries you think it is especially important to cooperate with in the long term?”

The answers suggest a widespread skepticism among the Swedes towards the USA, China and Russia.

Only 10 percent of the Swedes want long term cooperation with the USA, and as many with China and only 7 percent with Russia.

That can be compared with the 44 percent of the Danes and 33 percent of the Norwegians that want a long term cooperation with the USA.

The interest in cooperation with Russia is four times as big in all other Nordic countries except Iceland.

The Swedes are also the most skeptical in regard to long term cooperation with the EU countries — 43 percent want it, as against 80 percent of the Danes.

In all five countries in the study finds that cooperation among the Nordic countries the most desired. But the Swedes are the least interested there as well: 50 percent think it is important, as against 71 percent in Norway and 74 percent in Denmark.

The EU minister Cecilia Malmström says that the investigation is troubling, but also expresses a certain skepticism. That only about 500 persons in each of the Nordic countries — a total of 2,500 persons — have been interviewed suggests that the survey may not have been statistically significant, she says.

But at the same time she admits that the differences between Sweden and the rest of the Nordic countries is striking.

She thinks one reason is that there isn’t enough awareness of the advantages of international cooperation.

“It is important to show that both we and our neighbors have something to gain from cooperation.”

At the same time she thinks that the result is perplexing.

“The Swedes are a people that traditionally have been positive in regard to cooperation, for example in the U.N. and the EU’s expansion,” says Cecilia Malmström.

— Mats Carlbom

8 comments:

Nex said...

A country that turns a blind eye to the wave of rapes of their female citizenry because it isn't politically correct to criticise immigrants isn't exactly a vibrant society worthy of ally status.

As time goes on Sweden becomes less and less worthy of interest, unless it's to see how fast they slide down their path.

Vikings indeed. Nex

lumberjack said...

Sweden has a long history of nonalignment with other nations. Even the referendum on joining the EU just barely passed; and only because the Swedish economy had gone off the rails.

Course, there's neutrality and then there's neutrality. When the Nazis wanted to stomp around Norway, the Swedes folded like a cheap lawn-chair. Sure, they said, here's the train schedules.

So maybe the Swedish desire to not take sides is really just a desire to avoid confrontation. I'm thinking any Jihadists who want to set Norway ablaze will be able to get directions, and a train schedule, from Sweden.

TonyGuitar said...

20 million single American women not cooperative with US either.

Shocking that vast numbers of European and American citizens have no idea about all that is at stake here.

They seem only to want to withdraw troops and abandon thousands of people who want to live in peace and go to school.

They have no idea that teachers will be hanged from soccer field goal posts and that the schools will be bombed.

They seem to be unaware that once Iraq and Afghanistan are under fundamentalist law, that law of terror will spread to France, England and Sweden where Muslim riots are now becoming common place.

There was a documentary on television showing how 20 million single American women are disgusted with politics and the anti-Isamofascist war.

Most of this group claim not to watch the news and that they will opt out and not vote.

20 million women in America who have no idea of what fudamentalist Shia law has in store for them.

How do we reach these people?

Working towards a Conservative majority. = TG

richard everett said...

As if anyone cares what the Swedes think of the U.S.; This is the same outfit that supplied the Nazis with ball bearings, and sold weapons to North Vietnam while criticizing the U,S. for its war there. How do you say "hypocrite" in Swedish?

X said...


A more reasoned examination
of sweden and the jews.

The long and the short is that they, like a lot of nations in the early years of the war, were unaware of how far the germans were actually going with their murder and that Sweden's attitude toward jews isn't as extreme as some people believe.

I'd also like to request that people be a little more forgiving. Sweden is like an abused wife, someone that needs help.

Nex said...

Archonix:

Harsh comments do help. It's called tough love. Anything less would be ineffectual.

Pretending things aren't that bad or ignoring Sweden's problems wouldn't help. Moreover, an abused wife is a true victim, while Sweden is but the victim of its own folly. Nex

X said...

Harsh words will only take you so far. WHat I'd like people to consider is that we need everyone on our side as far as possible. As you might be able to see from experiences with Islam, the western converts to that religion are usually the most violent and vociferous of its members. Converts are always the most zealous.

As I said, harsh words will only go so far. We need to cajole and encourage as much as discipline. Sweden's "folly" was wanting to make right after the war, only to fall in to the trap that a lot (including the US) fell in to, of listening to the left-wing as they tried to take on the mantle of the saviours of the world.

Baron Bodissey said...

Mr. C --

We have a PG-13 policy in place here at Gates of Vienna. I didn't object to the sentiment of your comment, but I had to delete it because of its language.