“You look at what happened last night in Sweden. Who would believe this, Sweden?”

The newly inaugurated president Donald Trump’s words from February 2017 raised many questions, as nothing in particular happened that night.

Surely things do happen in Sweden, though. Things worthy of an intellectual discussion, even among people who don’t have linguistic access to the Swedish debate:

  • The setbacks for welfare state universalism and economic equality, paired with a decline in the support and strength for social democracy.

  • The rise of the far right, leading to a conservative government dependent on their support.

  • The process of joining Nato after more than two hundred years outside of military alliances, currently interrupted by Turkey’s Erdogan.

These phenomenon, and much more, are topics of the subscribed newsletter LAST NIGHT IN SWEDEN.

Peter Gustavsson has a long background of analysis and research of Sweden and social democracy. Photo: Klas-Herman Lundgren.

The newsletter is edited by the journalist and author PETER GUSTAVSSON. Gustavsson is a familiar name as an editorial writer for Scandinavia’s largest newspaper Aftonbladet, but also as one of the editors for Rörelsen, a Substack platform for social democrat debate.

LAST NIGHT IN SWEDEN is distributed to subscribers weekly [sometimes semi-weekly, sometimes bi-weekly], giving fresh Northern perspectives on our times.

Some articles will be distributed for free. The advanced reader who wants to get an insight in Swedish and Scandinavian is recommended to get a paid subscription, as this will get access to all articles as well as to the archive. It’s also well needed as a support to the work being done with putting it together.

Last Night in Sweden is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  • Are you a journalist, diplomat or analyst, wanting to read more on Sweden and Scandinavia than the eventual article in international press?

  • A political junkie, interested in Swedish society and politics?

  • A Swedish-American, wanting to get a deeper understanding of your country of heritage?

  • An immigrant or expat living in Sweden, wanting to get a deeper understanding of current affairs in the English language?

  • Or a Swede, thinking about what our country looks like from the outside?

No matter who you are, I hope that this newsletter will give you new insights. And don’t hesitate to share it with friends if you find that it could be useful for them, too.

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Author and journalist. Editor for Rörelsen and Last Night in Sweden, occational writer in Aftonbladet, Arbetarbladet and Dagens Arena.