Exogenous shocks and the search for a pragmatic economic security equilibrium

Abstract

The global economy and society have recently faced significant exogenous geopolitical shocks, such as the Covid-19 crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. People in countries like Sweden and The Netherlands might not directly feel insecure by the threat of a physical war starting soon in the Western-European region. However, they might feel the economic consequences of these events with rising energy, gas and transport prices. This thesis aims to research how the changing international (economic) security environment may have influenced the perspective of foreign trade and investment practitioners in Sweden and The Netherlands on maintaining economic security, since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This research has shown that perspectives of practitioners in both countries and on EU level have been influenced significantly. The research also highlighted interesting commonalities and differences in these changes. For several reasons in Sweden there was less of an eye-opener on how to manage economic security and Sweden seemed better prepared to maintain economic security than The Netherlands. Shared thoughts were that economic security should be handled more at an EU level, while avoiding economic securitisation and harming the powerful open economies, as this is a present concern. This research also showed that finding the economic security equilibrium that balances between an open welcoming economy and a strictly monitored economy with many protective measures is a question that likely is ever evolving due to these ever-changing external factors and hence will require continuous further study and research.