CONTENT
The guest today is Dr Johan Wennstrom an intelligence historian and writer on statecraft, from the Cold War underground to today’s crises. He is the author of “The Stay Behinds: Sweden’s Cold War Guardians” a national bestseller in Sweden recently translated into English and also writes on Substack as “Our Man In Stockholm” (https://johanwennstrom.substack.com/). On this episode we discuss the secretive history of Sweden’s \"stay-behind\" network established in 1949. This clandestine organization was composed primarily of civilians, such as farmers and factory workers, trained to act as a resistance movement in the event of a Soviet occupation. Operating through a strictly compartmentalized cell structure, members were prepared to conduct activities as intelligence gathering and establishing escape rat lines while under direct Swedish command. The discussion highlights that despite Sweden’s official non-aligned status, the government maintained secret ties with Western intelligence to ensure national survival. Johan provides an overview of Sweden’s \"Total Defense\" doctrine at the time, illustrating the strategic preparations made to prepare for a Soviet Invasion during the Cold War.
Johan's book choice on Desert Islands Dits is \"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy\" by John Le Carre. My choice is his book “The Stay Behinds: Sweden’s Cold War Guardians”. We also discuss \"A Private Spy - The Letters Of John Le Carre\" edited by Tim Cornwell.
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