Since 1996 peacekeeping operations are a high priority for the Swedish Defence Forces. The experiences from these operations will influence the future military lead-ership education and training and the writing of this thesis should be regarded from that perspective. My main purpose is to examine military leadership in order to im-prove the leadership education and training within the Swedish Defence Forces. I have posed three research questions. What important steps have been taken in the develop-ment of leadership within the Swedish Defence Forces during the last century? How does this development of military leadership stand out in relation to the development in other countries? How is military leadership managed in international operations?

This thesis begins with a survey of the leadership in the Swedish, Norwegian, American, and Israeli armies. The central part comprises studies of two Swedish bat-talions in Bosnia. The leadership in the Swedish Defence Forces has a very good repu-tation, due to the extensive reforms in educational leadership. However, as a military commander it is not sufficient to be a good and successful educator. You are also ex-pected to be able to conduct your unit in peacekeeping operations as well as at war. In general Swedish officers have not had that kind of experience, foremost due to the fact that Sweden has not been in a war for almost 200 years.

Throughout the case studies I have used a multi-method technique, in which an im-portant part of the method was direct observation. I stayed with a UN-battalion for three months and with another battalion, which was under NATO command, for one month. In the thesis I give an inside perspective of the leadership of the battalions in Bosnia. I illustrate different leadership problems that have appeared throughout my study and describe the environment that the peacekeepers lived and worked in. In the discussion I change focus from the two case studies to the socialization process of the Swedish officers. I relate to the French sociologist Bourdieus´ theoretical concepts when I explain the role-conflict that Swedish officers are facing during international operations. The Swedish Defence College has started a programme to develop leader-ship for the twenty-first century. The biggest challenge is to deal with the general per-spective of the whole organization and its core values in relationship to the role of leadership. Other challenges are the insufficient coordination in the military leadership education and the existing communication problems between different officer groups. I wrap up the thesis with a proposal of a strategy that will help the progression of the Swedish military leadership.