ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the shifting reasons for interest in the Nordic countries abroad, how the 'image' of the Nordic countries has developed since the interwar years, and how it has been promoted by the Nordics themselves, not least by the Swedes. Due to the importance of American public opinion in shaping Western views during the Cold War, as well as global outlooks in its aftermath, the chapter asks how the 'Swedish model' gained pre-eminence over the other Nordic countries during the Cold War years. Significantly, the Swedish model has virtually disappeared from international news reporting, having been effectively replaced by the concept of the Nordic model, discussed at the beginning of this chapter. As the Cold War ended and the Swedish economy faltered in the early 1990s, the Swedish political elite abandoned the Swedish model in favour of making Sweden 'European', leaving it up to the other Nordic countries to construct alternative Baltic or Nordic identities.
