How Powerful is Sweden?

Sweden is often pointed to as the ideal combination of capitalism and socialism. So, we took a look at Sweden's society, politics, and military to find out just how powerful it really is.

The Kingdom of Sweden is a Nordic and Scandinavian country located in Northern Europe. It is a massive space comprised of nearly 175,000 square miles. It’s also technically a monarchy, even though the king and queen hold no political power — instead political influence belongs to its democratic parliament.  

The government has four major pillars. First, all government power is granted by its population by way of Parliament. Second, the country has a king and queen, with specific rules when it comes to succession. Third is that freedom of the press is a guarantee, which public authorities are not allowed to censor. Fourth, freedom of expression cannot be abridged, unless it entails public defamation.

It’s also known for its robust social systems set in place for its 10 million residents, including universal healthcare and free higher education. This is due to the fact that it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Despite its low budgetary focus for taxes, Sweden’s military actually ranks 29th in the world. The country is part of many global conversations, but is not part of NATO or the Eurozone.

It short, the country has managed to bridge the gap between social health and high incomes.