Abstract

During the Cold War, Sweden actively cultivated a reputation as the “conscience of the world,” working to build bridges between East and West and embracing a nominal commitment to international solidarity. This groundbreaking study explores the tension between realism and idealism in Swedish diplomacy during a key episode in Cold War history: the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, culminating in the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Through careful analysis of new evidence, it offers a compelling counternarrative of this period, showing that Sweden strategically ignored human rights violations in Eastern Europe and the nonaligned states in its pursuit of national interests.

Aryo Makko is Associate Professor of History at Stockholm University and has been a visiting fellow at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the University of Oxford and Harvard University. He was selected as a Pro Futura Scientia fellow by the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) in 2016. His work has appeared in the Journal of Cold War Studies and Diplomacy & Statecraft, among others.

“Succinctly and vigorously written and extensively annotated, this book represents a substantial contribution to the new international history. – Highly Recommended.” • Choice

"Ambassadors of Realpolitik is a solid and well-argued book. The theses of the author are supported by a wide range of archival material. Also, the author’s interpretative analysis is convincing….[It] is a recommendable book that answers the need for more complex historical narratives in the field of international history. I would especially recommend it to scholars interested in Swedish international history, in the making of the CSEC, and also to scholars interested in Cold War history, especially in the period of détente.” • European Review of History

“This is a solid empirical work in the classical tradition of diplomatic history, founded on archival studies in five countries (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK)…To discuss Swedish foreign policy in the context of European Realpolitik was sensitive to contemporaries, and it has remained so among historians. Makko’s book, however, is a welcome attempt to change that.” • Journal of Contemporary History

“Ambassadors of Realpolitik is an equally ambitious and insightful work that adds a hitherto neglected component to the well researched history of the Cold War.” • H-Soz-Kult

“This book is the first to go behind the scenes for a full and detailed account of Sweden’s paradoxical foreign policy in the era of the CSCE. A brilliant and original analysis drawing on valuable new archival material.” • Richard Davy, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford