Almost 30 years after the Cold War ended, Sweden has reissued an advisory on how to cope with the outbreak of war - as well as terrorism and natural emergencies.
The pamphlet, according to Quartz, has been resurrected by the government who are distributing it to every - around 4.5 million - households during the country’s Emergency Preparedness Week in May.
The document, named Om kriget kommer (If War Comes), was first issued in the 1940s during the Second World War but was discontinued in 1991, when the Cold War ended.
The pamphlet tells families how to prepare for a national crisis - not just war, but terror attacks and natural disasters - offering practical advice on food, water, heating, and communication and comes amid growing concerns about regional security and terrorism.
The advice, last updated in the 1980s, was thought to be out of date.
“Back then the [booklet’s] focus was only on war. Today society looks completely different.
“There is a significantly more complex threat with climate change, terror attacks, pandemics and manipulation of information,” Christina Andersson of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, MSB), which has been commissioned by the government to produce the new version of the booklet, told Aftonbladet.
“People need to learn and know about how to deal with it.”
As well as offering practical advice on household matters, the pamphlet also informs Swedes on what to do in an air-raid shelter and what the Government’s response to a national crisis will be.
It also offers advice on dealing with misinformation.
Sweden reinstated the military draft last year, citing recruitment issues and Russia, as it moves closer to NATO, of which it is not a member.
Reaction to the pamphlet has been mixed with some not seeing what was controversial about “encouraging preparedness”, while others questioned the breadth of eventualities the advice covered.
People also wondered how the British public would react to advice being issued in the UK.