Week 38: Hybrid warfare in the Middle East and Swedish democracy under threat?

In a week characterized by discussions about the government's autumn budget, Kombi game and the charges against Richard Yomscourt has the debate on global issuesr got back stand slightly. But between domestic policy debates inspired democracy day to exchanges of meaning about the state of democracy in Sweden. The situation in the Middle East is also still relevant, not least after this week's events in Lebanon.

This week, 17 civil society organizations expressed deep concern about the state of Sweden's democracy in a debate article in Aftonbladet. Threats against journalists, the spread of mistrust, cuts in government support to civil society and the Sweden Democrats' troll factory are cited as signs of a weakening of Swedish democracy. The organizations call on the government to appoint an inquiry with proposals on how democracy can be defended.

The concern is dismissed in one reply by Adam Danieli, head of the rule of law at the Timbro think tank. He points to global democracy surveys that show that Sweden's democracy stands relatively strong against the trend that points to a decline in democracy internationally. Furthermore, Danieli suggests that the purpose of the civil society organizations' article must be to protect their own state grants.

- Democracy is everyone's common heritage. If you care about it seriously, you don't use it as a cheap bat like this, writes Danieli.

Development in the Middle East

Today's ETC published this week an AI review of the Swedish news reporting after the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. The deaths among Palestinians are estimated to be 30 times higher than among Israelis. In contrast, opinion journalists reportedly wrote almost twice as much about attacks against Israelis compared to Palestinians.

- Will the leading pages that have greatly exaggerated the reporting and the angle on Israel's suffering catch up? Probably not, Annie Croona signs ETC's leader page.

The exploding pagers and communication radios that took around 40 lives and injured nearly 3000 people in Lebanon have also been the subject of debate this week. Suspicions are directed at Israel, which has not yet claimed responsibility for the incident. So well Zina Al-Dewany i Aftonbladet as Andreas Gustavsson in Today's ETC worried about how indiscriminately these attacks must have claimed victims. Al-Dewany also expresses astonishment at the Swedish news coverage of the events.

- In no media is the tone sadness, shock or pain over a suffering population, on the threshold of a possible major war. It is rather ill-concealed admiration that a state has "succeeded" in this, writes Al-Dewany.

I Svenska Dagbladet states that hybrid and shadow wars are here to stay and gives examples of China, Iran and Russia's actions in Sweden and internationally. IN Sydsvenskan expresses the editorial board that a retaliation from Hezbollah is to be expected, while Express Lina Jerneck reflects on how the events in Lebanon can affect world trade if mistrust increases.

- For governments in Western countries as well as the powder kegs of the world, the Mossad's operation has put one thing in a flash: If you do not have full control over your technology, you are vulnerable, writes Jerneck.