US Nato support 'still quite strong', insists former ambassador to Sweden
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When Donald Trump moved back into the White House, Erik Ramanathan and his husband Ranesh moved back to Boston from the elegant brick US Ambassador's Residence in Stockholm's diplomatic quarter, after a two-year stint as Joe Biden's appointee.
Since then, the US has formally been without a US ambassador - Donald Trump's pick, Christine Jack Toretti, has yet to be approved by the Senate: attempts by Trump to get her nominated as ambassador to Malta in 2018 failed; the Senate withheld its approval.
This was reportedly partly because of a restraining order which had allegedly been filed against her for placing a target sheet which had been riddled with bullets in the office of her ex-husband's doctor.
But if the new ambassador might not be here for a while, the old one is back for the Almedalen political week in Visby, six months after he left office. I caught up with him over a lunch of crêpes in the walled city. So what made him make the trip?
'I'm here because, first of all, I love Sweden and developed deep connections with people with companies, with organizations, civil society, government folks. I want to continue those relationships and kind of sow what seeds of continued collaboration and other great things we can do together.'
Much has changed since he was ambassador: Trump has sown grave doubts about American commitment to Ukraine and Nato –– core concerns of Sweden, which has Russia in its back yard. He has also spread jitters in Sweden's export-dependent economy with his on-again, off-again approach to tariffs.
Ramanathan says the impact of tariffs is being felt by companies on both sides of the Atlantic: '[Companies] are having real trouble making long-term plans. Even short-term plans have been somewhat disrupted, but I think particularly thinking through: do we hire or not hire? Where do we expand? How should we think about our markets internationally?'.
'And there's a lot of uncertainty because the current administration keeps taking bold moves of one type or another and then sometimes reversing course a short while later.'
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The administration's assaults on the university sector have also created ripples, but Ramanathan doesn't expect a sudden exodus of researchers:
'People don't move around the world at the drop of a hat — that's just a reality. But might American scientists or students love to come to Sweden for a degree or for a fellowship program or to do some concentrated work on a collaborative academic project? Absolutely. And they might just decide to stay, if they love it, right?'
The Trump administration has made headlines in Sweden recently by asking organizations including the City of Stockholm to sign contracts binding them not to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The City authorities refused to comply. What did Ramanathan think when he saw what was happening?
'Well, I've been a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion my entire career, and I intend to continue. And by the way, while not every business and organization started as a champion of so-called DEI, the vast majority have become champions because they see that it helps their businesses to have inclusive workforces, to have a greater diversity of viewpoints around the table, to not have echo chambers in their boardrooms.'
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One upshot of the new administration's changed attitudes is that it is unlikely to turn up at Stockholm Pride in August. Ramanathan, however, will be there.
'It's one of my favourite Pride marches in the world. And I think it's really important to be there, to show what I believe as an American, as a patriotic American, that these are values that we stand for, and that we believe in our LGBT, brothers and sisters, and that we celebrate pride, we celebrate inclusion, and we're going to continue doing that regardless of what any government figure may say.'
Perhaps the gravest threat from the Trump administration, seen through the eyes of many Swedes and other Europeans, is the signals Trump has given that he may not be prepared to come to allies' aid, at least if they don't radically increase defence spending.
Similarly, the fact that Trump has sometimes appeared to take Russia's side over the Ukraine war, including by blaming Ukraine for starting the conflict, has concerned Europeans who see the defence of Ukraine as an existential question for the continent. One small but poignant symbol of this was the US Embassy in Stockholm removing a pro-Ukrainian banner from its facade shortly after Trump took office. While Ramanathan thinks taking down the banner was a 'terrible thing', he thinks its too early to write off US support for Ukraine:
'I believe that Americans still support Ukraine. The vast majority of Americans do. I know I do. I see it in my own community, I hear it from everyone I talk with. I know that the government is still frankly working out its policy as to continued military assistance, but there haven't been abrupt changes.
The policies largely have remained the same if rhetorically not as forward-leaning, if you will. And so to have a banner come down that simply says, that we're really going to prioritize this is a shame.'
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Support for Nato, he thinks, is if anything even stronger, including among Republican congressmen and women. 172 US congressmen - a quarter of the total - came to Sweden during his ambassadorship, mostly to support the Swedish application to join the transatlantic alliance.
'They all stood by my side, Republican or Democrat, and said, we're here for as long as it takes. We're with Ukraine. Rhetorically, I've seen that change a bit on Ukraine, but I don't believe that the support of most [politicians] has.
"And on Nato, I actually don't think there's really been any change at all. I know there are many logistical policy things to deal with in Nato spending targets. I believe that the fact that we're all looking to invest more in Nato is a good sign, is a sign consistent with my view that Nato support by the US is quite strong, regardless of what you occasionally hear rhetorically from the top of the administration.'
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