Rally around the flag? Explaining changes in Swedish public opinion towards NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Year: 2023

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden changed its historic position of non-alignment and applied for membership in the NATO military alliance. This decision coincided with large shift in public opinion in favor of NATO membership, in what has been described as the largest shift in Swedish political opinion since polling began. We examine two possible explanations for this shift in public opinion, the ‘rally around the flag effect’ and the ‘elite influence effect’, by analyzing within-indivi