Forerunner, follower, exceptionalist or bridge builder? Mapping Nordicness in Danish foreign policy

Abstract

ABSTRACTSince the early Cold War Denmark has been part of a cluster of Nordic states characterized by their commitment to Scandinavian welfare state values at home and abroad. However, today Danish foreign policy is at the same time super-Nordic, un-Nordic and anti-Nordic. The role of Nordicness in Danish foreign policy has been largely overlooked in the literature on post-Cold War Danish foreign policy, but I identify four different roles for Nordicness in Danish foreign policy: forerunner, follower, bridge builder and exceptionalist. I explore each of these roles discussing what they tell us about the role of Nordicness in Danish foreign policy, and how the roles play out in different issue areas and to which extent the importance of each role has changed over time. I argue that while each role depicts Denmark as a fringe Nordic country, Nordicness continues to play an important, but mostly uncredited, as a source of ideas for Danish foreign policy.