Denmark in the Arctic: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul or Feeding the White Elephant?

Abstract

Denmark's Arctic policy and its perspective regarding the prospects of resuming peaceful cooperation with Russia are largely determined by the limited resources it is capable of assigning to maintaining and improving the quality of its Arctic presence and by the relationship with the key ally – the United States, which continue to pay increasing attention to the Arctic region. The modest Danish defense budget and the need to allocate substantial resources to modernize and develop of naval forces in the Baltic Sea makes Denmark more prone to peaceful cooperation with Russia in the Arctic, as large-scale investments in the militarization of the region are simply not the option for Denmark. It is likely that Denmark will seek to align its Arctic initiatives with Washington’s Arctic vision as much as possible, but avoid costly military initiatives and projects in the region.