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From Nordic Peacekeeper to NATO Peacemaker: Denmark’s Journey from Semi-neutral to Super Ally

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Small States and the New Security Environment

Part of the book series: The World of Small States ((WSS,volume 7))

Abstract

Danish foreign policy is characterized by a strong and diversified military engagement. From 1990 to 2018, Danish political decision-makers committed Danish troops to 76 military operations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa compared to 13 operations during the Cold War from 1945 to 1989. In the essay, we argue that Denmark’s military activism since the end of the Cold War has combined shelter seeking with status seeking to the extent that the two now exist in symbiosis. Shelter seeking is conditioned upon status seeking, and status seeking is an instrument for shelter seeking. Thus, the essay offers lessons for small states in both practice and theory.

We would like to thank Clara Lyngholm Mortensen and Daniela Dominguez for research assistance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ringsmose and Rynning (2008), pp. 55–84.

  2. 2.

    Mouritzen (2007), pp. 155–167; Wivel and Crandall (2019), pp. 392–419.

  3. 3.

    Jakobsen and Rynning (2019), pp. 877–895.

  4. 4.

    Pedersen and Ringsmose (2017), pp. 339–357.

  5. 5.

    For recent overviews of this literature, see Baldacchino and Wivel (2020); Wivel et al. (2014), pp. 3–25.

  6. 6.

    Jesse and Dreyer (2016).

  7. 7.

    Wivel (2018), pp. 419–434.

  8. 8.

    Wivel et al. (2014), pp. 3–25.

  9. 9.

    Thorhallsson and Steinsson (2017).

  10. 10.

    Waltz (1979), p. 127.

  11. 11.

    Mariager and Wivel (2019) and Wivel and Crandall (2019).

  12. 12.

    Wivel et al. (2014), pp. 3–25.

  13. 13.

    Bailes et al. (2014), pp. 26–45; Edström et al. (2019).

  14. 14.

    Maass (2017).

  15. 15.

    Krause and Singer (2001), pp. 15–23; Morrow (1991), pp. 904–933.

  16. 16.

    Bailes et al. (2016), pp. 9–26; Thorhallsson (2019).

  17. 17.

    Larson et al. (2014), pp. 18–19.

  18. 18.

    Larson et al. (2014), p. 7.

  19. 19.

    de Carvalho and Neumann (2015), p. 1.

  20. 20.

    Ibid, 1–2.

  21. 21.

    For an analysis of the arguments of Danish policy-makers in relation to participation in the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Kosovo, see Wivel (2019), pp. 363–539. For a recent official statement of the continued importance of the United States for Danish National Security, see the official Danish foreign and security policy strategy: Danish Government (2018).

  22. 22.

    E.g. Jakobsen et al. (2018), pp. 256–277.

  23. 23.

    Glenthøj (2018), pp. 566–598.

  24. 24.

    Rasmussen (2005), pp. 67–89.

  25. 25.

    Wivel and Crandall (2019), p. 399.

  26. 26.

    Petersen (2011), pp. 276–280.

  27. 27.

    Mortensen and Wivel (2019).

  28. 28.

    Jakobsen (2011), pp. 287–293; Jakobsen and Kjærsgaard (2017), p. 386.

  29. 29.

    Hækkerup (1965).

  30. 30.

    The other cornerstones were NATO (security and defense), EFTA/EC (trade and economic growth) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (identity politics).

  31. 31.

    Marcussen (2018), pp. 240–253.

  32. 32.

    SIPRI, SIPRI Military Expenditure Database: Data for all countries 1949–2017 (excel spreadsheet). https://www.7.org/databases/milex, accessed 16 January 2019.

  33. 33.

    With the notable exception of Greenland, which was used as a bargaining chip in Denmark’s relationship with the United States.

  34. 34.

    Due-Nielsen and Petersen (1995), pp. 11–54.

  35. 35.

    Jakobsen (2006), pp. 381–395.

  36. 36.

    Noreen (1983), pp. 43–56.

  37. 37.

    Mouritzen (2001), p. 298.

  38. 38.

    Wæver (1992), pp. 77–102.

  39. 39.

    Holm (2002), pp. 21, 22–23.

  40. 40.

    Wivel (2019), pp. 382–383.

  41. 41.

    Mariager and Wivel (2019), pp. 172–177.

  42. 42.

    Mortensen and Wivel (2019), p. 551.

  43. 43.

    Wivel (2019), pp. 454–459.

  44. 44.

    Rasmussen (2017), pp. 51–73.

  45. 45.

    Danish Ministry of Defence 2018, Aftale på forsvarsområdet 2018–2023, 28 January 2018. http://www.fmn.dk/temaer/forsvarsforlig/Documents/Forsvarsforlig-2018-2023.pdf, accessed 14 March 2019.

  46. 46.

    Jakobsen (2015), pp. 5–13.

  47. 47.

    Mariager and Wivel (2019), p. 22.

  48. 48.

    Cf. Breitenbauch (2015), p. 28.

  49. 49.

    The practical lessons discussed here draw on Mariager and Wivel (2019) and in Wivel et al. (2018).

  50. 50.

    Jakobsen et al. (2018).

  51. 51.

    Wivel (2019), pp. 330–333.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Rasmus Mariager & Anders Wivel

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  1. Rasmus Mariager
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  2. Anders Wivel
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Correspondence to Anders Wivel .

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  1. Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Anne-Marie Brady

  2. Faculty of Political Science and the Centre for Small State Studies, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Baldur Thorhallsson

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Mariager, R., Wivel, A. (2021). From Nordic Peacekeeper to NATO Peacemaker: Denmark’s Journey from Semi-neutral to Super Ally. In: Brady, AM., Thorhallsson, B. (eds) Small States and the New Security Environment. The World of Small States, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51529-4_8

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