ABSTRACT
Of all donor nations, Sweden has gained the reputation of being the one most guided by a moral vision, largely unemcumbered by considerations of short term political or economic interest. Based since its founding in 1962 on the principle of “solidarity with the poor of the third world,” the Swedish program consistently leads other DAC donors on such criteria as aid volume, favorable terms, and flexible procedures, and has been characterized by a willingness to include more radical regimes and liberation movements among its recipients. Such an approach forms a crucial part of the Swedish foreign policy of “active neutrality,” through which Sweden refuses to join any political or military alliance, but instead takes an independent stand and works actively by its own example or through international organizations such as the United Nations to promote international peace, economic and social equality, and national sovereignty.
