The relations between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

reach back to the days of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The Kingdom of Sweden was the first country not formally engaged in the conflict (although around a hundred Swedish volunteers partook on the side of the

Patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

) to recognize the United States before the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed subsequently in 1783 between

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

and Swedish representative Gustaf Philip Creutz. In the 19th century, relations were largely cordial. Masses of Swedes emigrated to the United States from the 1840s–1920s, estimated at around a quarter of the Swedish population. The immigrants were eager for the promise of opportunity and land; many settled in the American Midwest. The result was a substantial

Swedish American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

population. In the 20th century, the countries were fellow democracies (with the end of the Swedish monarchy's power after World War I) and maintained cordial if distant relations. Sweden maintained official neutrality but supplied nearby

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, causing some tension with the Allies. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Sweden did not join NATO and maintained a neutral status between the Western and Eastern Bloc, although its democratic and mixed capitalist approach was generally more in tune with the West and the United States. After the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, which was deeply unpopular in Sweden, relations between the two countries improved. The two countries have been largely friendly, and the United States supported Sweden's

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

membership. Under a comprehensive mandate, Sweden's nonalignment policy has led it to serve as the

protecting power A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state—the protected power—in a third country where the protected power lacks its own formal diplomatic representation (e.g., lacks an embassy or consulate). It is common fo ...

for the United States and to represent Washington in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

on consular matters. On 3 August 2022, the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

unanimously approved

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and Sweden's accession bids to join

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

approved the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden in August 2022. Sweden's accession into NATO was finalized on 7 March 2024. The United States has

observer status Observer status is a privilege granted by some organizations to non-members to give them an ability to participate in the organization's activities. Observer status is often granted by intergovernmental organizations (IGO) to non-member parties and ...

with the regional BEAC and CBSS.

History

Colonies and early United States

Like many European powers, Sweden participated in the colonization of North America that started in the 17th century. The first Swedish colony along the banks of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

was established in 1638 ''(see

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

)''. Sweden under king Gustavus III was the first country not engaged in the

to recognize the young American republic. The Swedish Count Axel von Fersen was a distinguished soldier during the war, serving as an interpreter between General Rochambeau and General

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Also the Swedish count Curt von Stedingk, led the second assault during the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the second battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutena ...

in 1779. Both were made members of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

. In 1783 the United States' Ambassador to Paris,

, and the Swedish Ambassador, Count Gustaf Philip Creutz, signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce. From 1801-02, Sweden was allied with the United States during the

First Barbary War The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the 1801–1815 Barbary Wars, in which the United States fought against Ottoman Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war ...

, fought against the

Barbary corsairs The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

to prevent further disruption of trade in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Emigration

During the period between 1820–1930 approximately 1.3 million Swedes, a third of the country's population, emigrated to North America and most of them to the United States. Like the

Irish diaspora The Irish diaspora () refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner, Roy; Meeder, Sven (2017). The Irish ...

it was sparked by poverty in Sweden, which was exacerbated during bad years. Only

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

(especially Ireland) and Norway had a higher emigration rate. Most of the Swedish emigrants settled in the central and Western United States. By 1910, Chicago had a greater population of Swedes than

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

was also a place where many Swedish emigrants settled. The majority of Swedish-Americans fought in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

on the Union side. (See also

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty (lo ...

USS Monitor USS ''Monitor'' was an ironclad warship built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War and completed in early 1862, the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. ''Monitor'' played a central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads ...

) In 1938, on the tercentenary of New Sweden, the Delaware monument was inaugurated by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

and Prince Bertil of Sweden. Roosevelt said in his speech:

Worsening relations

The first Swedish head of government who met with a US President was

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Tage Erlander Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969. Previously, h ...

, who visited

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in 1952. The period between 1960 and 1968 also marked a cold period in the political relations between Sweden and the U.S., mainly due to the Swedish government's vocal opposition to the

. In February 1968, the US recalled its Ambassador from Sweden after the Swedish Minister of Education and future prime minister

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

, a

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

, had participated in a protest in Stockholm against the war together with the North Vietnamese Ambassador to the Soviet Union Nguyen Tho Chan. The post of US Ambassador to Sweden remained vacant until February 1970. In December 1972, Olof Palme (then Prime Minister) made a speech on Swedish national radio where he compared the ongoing US bombings of Hanoi to some of the worst atrocities committed by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. The US government called the comparison a "gross insult" and once again decided to freeze its diplomatic relations with Sweden (this time the freeze lasted for over a year).

Warmer period

Relations improved when Thorbjörn Fälldin became Swedish prime minister in 1976, and following the

assassination of Olof Palme On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 Central European Time, CET (22:21 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the ...

in 1986 and the succession of

Ingvar Carlsson Gösta Ingvar Carlsson (born 9 November 1934) is a Swedish politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Sweden, first from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996. He was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1986 to 1996. He ...

as new Prime Minister, Swedish-American relations improved. Ingvar Carlsson met with President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1987, the first time that a Swedish Prime Minister was invited to the White House since 1961, when Erlander paid a visit to Kennedy. Carlsson's successor as Prime Minister,

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...

, visited both President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in 1992 and President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1994. Immediately after the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the Swedish government expressed its sympathies with the U.S. and supported the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. However, like many other European governments, Sweden opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, reasoning that the invasion was a breach of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. However, Prime Minister Göran Persson was relatively mild in his criticism of the U.S. compared to Olof Palme's strong criticism during the Vietnam War. In the Statement of Government Policy presented to the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

on October 6, 2006, the new centre-right Prime Minister

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He was the last rotating Presi ...

declared that the new government will work for a "strengthening of the transatlantic link". Reinfeldt's party, the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

, is more pro-American than the social democrats and supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Swedish membership of

. Reinfeldt visited President Bush at the White House on May 15, 2007. According to a 2012 Gallup poll, 36% of Swedes approve of U.S. leadership, with 30% disapproving and 34% uncertain. Following President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's first 2020 presidential campaign rally at which he referred to "what's happening last night in Sweden" the Swedish government requested clarification from the U.S. State Department in regards to Trump's understanding of what was going on in Sweden. On February 19, the Cabinet of Sweden requested an explanation from the White House and the Swedish Embassy in the United States offered to inform the US administration in the future about Swedish immigration and integration policies. On February 23, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs referred to discussions about Sweden's refugee policies as "simplistic and occasionally completely inaccurate." On March 6, 2018 Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited the United States and met with President Donald Trump. In June 2019, American rapper

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

, real name Rakim Mayers, was arrested and held on remand in Sweden over a physical altercation in Stockholm. President Donald Trump made several tweets where he demanded that the Swedish government release Mayers. A spokesperson for prime minister Löfven released a statement in response to Trump's request which stated that the government was not allowed to influence legal proceedings in Sweden and that "everyone is equal before the law".

Economic relations

The United States and Sweden have strong economic relations. The United States is, as of 2022, the third-largest Swedish export trade partner, and U.S. companies are the most represented foreign companies in Sweden.

Military relations

Although Sweden has a longstanding policy of political neutrality in international affairs, Sweden decided to apply for full membership of

in May 2022, following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Sweden is a participant in the

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post–Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central Asi ...

. Sweden currently participates with around 500 troops in the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF), under the command of NATO, in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Four parties represented in the Parliament, the centre-right

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

, support NATO membership. During the Libyan Civil War of 2011, the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

worked closely with NATO and the USA. During the

, the Swedish government secretly made preparations to receive military aid from the United States in case of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

aggression. Sweden also aided the US in secrecy, possibly most famously when four Swedish pilots were awarded US Air Medals for saving the highly classified

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. Its nicknames include " Blackbird" and ...

spy plane from Soviet hands. The US pilots of the SR-71 stated that had Sweden not intervened and escorted the plane to safety on 29 June 1987, a dramatic escalation to the Cold War could have occurred through an international crisis. The event was classified for over 30 years, and when the report was unsealed, data from the NSA showed that several

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is a ...

s had been dispatched with the order to shoot down the SR-71 or force it to land after it had gotten an engine failure. A MiG-25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR-71, but as the aircraft was under escort by the Swedish

Saab 37 Viggen The Saab 37 Viggen (''The Tufted Duck'', ambiguous with ''The Thunderbolt'') is a single-seat, single-engine multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB, Saab. It was the first Canard (aeronautic ...

pilots no missiles were fired. On 29 November 2018, the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the US Air Force.

Cultural links

Reflecting the fact that Sweden has a higher proportion of English speakers than most other countries which were never part of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, Swedish producers and songwriters have played a significant role in the sound of American pop music since the 1990s. One in particular,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

, has written and produced more

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

number one hits than any American songwriter or producer.

List of visits

References

External links

Nordstjernan - The Swedish Newspaper in America

History of Sweden - U.S. relations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweden-United States relations

Bilateral relations of the United States Relations of colonizer and former colony