Put simply, Sweden chose not just to ally itself with the U.S. but to enter into a death cult run by U.S. [neo]imperialist interests rather than confront its own fears about Russia and people’s misgivings about American [neo]imperialism. And to be sure, there are misgivings—or at least there were. A 2013 international Gallup poll found that people in sixty-five countries overwhelmingly felt that the U.S. is the greatest threat to peace in the world. Around the same time, in 2014, Swedes were also overwhelmingly against joining NATO.

Fast forward to 2023 and the numbers have essentially flipped: 56 percent against joining NATO in 2014 vs. 62 percent for joining NATO in May 2023. This is the power of propaganda. This is the game that Swedish politicians have been playing for more than a decade, and indeed even after the war in Ukraine began, Swedish politicians campaigned in the 2022 election against joining NATO. Even then, the establishment didn’t trust the people to vote for an eager U.S. [neo]imperialist sycophant.

But alas, we’ll never know if the people would ultimately have voted to be a nation of sycophants because NATO membership was never put up for a vote, an issue that Swedish journalist Kajsa Ekis Ekman rightfully highlighted as undemocratic and deeply disturbing.

Ekman points out that there was a referendum for joining the EU, arguably a vote of lesser importance as it didn’t involve the potential for global war and carnage. She writes that the EU referendum prompted people to get educated about the issue. People held study groups and meetings and passed out pamphlets. It was discussed in schools, workplaces, bars, and at home. People wanted to be knowledgeable when they took to the polls.

And perhaps there lies the primary reason why there was never a NATO referendum. If people really knew the history of NATO, and the present and future aims, they’d be horrified at the prospect of joining.