Evolution of Denmark’s Policy Towards the NATO in the Second Half of the 20th Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/mhpi2020.42.109-120Keywords:
Denmark, bloc policy, NATO, foreign policy, security policy, footnoting, Cold WarAbstract
The article focuses on Denmark’s shifting approaches towards bloc policy through the lens of its security priorities. It emphasizes that the Danish exposure to security vulnerabilities is primarily due to its geographical location, which led to rejection of country’s neutrality and to joining the NATO. The study stresses that internal factors have been continuously influencing the Danish defense policy, causing numerous controversies in domestic politics. Contradictions are identified in Denmark’s efforts to preserve a balance between the status of a nuclear-free state and the need to accept the U.S. military base in Greenland. The reasons and peculiarities of the Danish ambivalent attitude towards the NATO during the Cold War are clarified. It is pointed out that a moderately independent approach to relations with the Eastern Bloc and efforts towards a further rapprochement was a prominent aspect of Denmark’s security policy at that time. The study demonstrates that the Atlantic direction gradually lost its relevance in the Danish security policy after the NATO approved the «double solution» policy in 1979, which was based on nuclear rearmament and excessive demands towards the USSR in arms control negotiations. Denmark’s approach to the NATO in the early 1980s was often described as «footnoting» and had a negative impact on Denmark’s ally image in the North Atlantic Alliance. New geopolitical realities in the late 1980’s pushed Denmark to adopt a more proactive security policy in the context of the Atlanticism. The nature of Denmark’s participation in international security initiatives, intervention operations under the NATO auspices and US-led ad-hoc coalitions during the 1990’s is thoroughly analyzed. The article underlines the importance of Denmark’s transformation from a weak link within NATO into a significant Nordic and European security player.
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