Denmark and Greenland: American defences and domestic agendas

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Notes

1. Colin L. Powell, Remarks at the Signing Ceremony with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller and Greenland Deputy Premier Josef Motzfeldt, Igaliku, Greenland, 6 Aug. 2004, <www.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/35019.htm>.

2. Josef Motzfeldt, Alle mennesker er født frie og lige, 6. Aug. 2004, <http://dk.nanoq.gl/udskriv.asp?page = nyhed&objno = 67869>.

3. All documents available at <http://dk.nanoq.gl/NYHED.asp?page = nyhed&objno = 66399>.

4. Statement by Josef Motzfeldt, Hvis ærinde går Sermitsiaq, 18 Aug. 2004, <www.dk.nanoq.gl/udskriv.asp?page = nyhed&objno = 68261>.

5. Open letter to Danish politicians and the public, 21 May 2004 (typescript).

6. The present study is, besides written sources, also based on numerous interviews with actors and observers, conducted throughout the period, the latest in February 2005. Such interviews were often based on a promise of confidentiality.

7. See ‘Per Stig lover åben missilskjolds-debat’, Politiken, 17 Dec. 2002, <www.politiken.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID = 247938>.

8. The Danish Parliament held seven long debates from 2001 to 2004 dedicated to MD and related issues.

9. Denmark and Greenland each had two hearings (2001 and 2003).

10. This study operates with different degrees of democracy: ‘The more representation and participation in the process of policy-making and the more information about it, the more democracy prevails’. See Hans Mouritzen, External Danger and Democracy (London: Dartmouth Publishing Company, 1997), p.20.

11. See Paul Villaume, Allieret med forbehold (Copenhagen: Eirene, 1995), pp.871, 876 (English summary).

12. Hans Mouritzen, ‘Thule and Theory’, in Bertel Heurlin and Hans Mouritzen (eds), Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 1998 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 1998), p.79.

13. See Kristian Søby Kristensen, Greenland, Denmark and the debate on missile defense, DUPI Working Paper 2004/14 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 2004). The author refers to Ronald Niezen, ‘Recognising Indigenism: Canadian Unity and the International Movement of Indigenous Peoples’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 42, No. 1 (2000), p.128.

14. Ibid., p.8.

15. See Paul Claesson (ed.), Grønland Middelhavets Perle (Copenhagen: Eirene, 1983).

16. See Jørgen Dragsdahl, ‘Frygt for at USA-radar i Thule skaber stormagts-konflikt’, Information, 11 Feb. 1985.

17. See Jørgen Dragsdahl, ‘USA's luftvåben afviste i 1980 ny radartype ved Thule med henvisning til ABM-traktat’, Information, 16 Jan. 1987.

18. The 1987 Thule affair was a ‘turning point’ in the relative influence of Denmark and the Home Rule government on international security issues of relevance for Greenland, the then Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Uffe Ellemann-Jensen writes. See his memoir Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, Fodfejl (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2004), p.222.

19. See Nikolaj Petersen, ‘Europæisk og Globalt Engagement’, Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie bind 6, 1973-2003 (Copenhagen: Gyldendals Leksikon, 2004), p.336.

20. Quoted in Poul Brink, Magtens Bog (Copenhagen: Aschehoug, 2002), p.529.

21. Nikolaj Petersen, The H. C. Hansen Paper and Nuclear Weapons in Greenland, DUPI Report 1997/2 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 1997).

22. Danish Foreign Ministry, ‘Grønland og udenrigspolitikken’, Udenrigsministeriets temaserie 24, March 2004, p.10.

23. Ibid., pp.13–4.

24. Danish Parliament, Høring om missilforsvar, 25 April 2001, <www.ft.dk/baggrund/00000077/00610730.htm>.

25. Peter C. Franklin, Deputy Director, Missile Defence Agency, Initial Integrated Missile Defense Capabilities Brief, 19 Dec. 2002, p.12 (typescript).

26. Ibid., p.24.

27. Ibid., p.25.

28. Colin L. Powell, Interview with Jens Moeller of Greenland TV, Igaliku, Greenland, 6 Aug. 2004, <www.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/35018.htm>.

29. Quoted by Danish MP Keld Albrechtsen in parliamentary question (question no. S 2064) on 14 March 2001.

30. Bradley Graham, Hit to Kill. The New Battle Over Shielding America From Missile Attack (New York: Public Affairs, 2001), p.105.

31. Ibid., p.155.

32. Quoted in Jørgen Dragsdahl, ‘The Danish Dilemma’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 57, No. 5 (2001), pp.45–50 at p. 46.

33. Petersen, ‘Europæisk og Globalt Engagement’ (note 19) p.574.

34. Sten Rynning, ‘Denmark as a Strategic Actor?’, Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2003 (Copenhagen: Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier, 2003), p.24.

35. The Danish Foreign Minister Peter Munch, in office from 1929 to 1940, most prominently expressed this tradition in his declaration: ‘The first and the last demand which we must make to Danish diplomacy is that it shall keep quiet and do its utmost to secure that we may live as unnoticed as possible’. Quoted in Hans Henrik Holm: ‘Denmark's Active Internationalism’, Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 1997 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 1997), p.57. Holm stated that although discredited, this low profile tradition ‘has been evident in much of Denmark's foreign policy tradition in the post-war years’.

36. Bertel Haarder (ed.), Hvem holdt de med? (Copenhagen: Peter la Cours Forlag, 1999), p.8.

37. Niels Helveg Petersen, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Social Democrat-led government (himself a member of the centrist Radikale Venstre), in 1999 said: ‘The United States' dominant role in the world and strong engagement in Europe is an advantage for Denmark’. Politiken, 17 Jan. 1999.

38. Peter Viggo Jakobsen, ‘Denmark at War: Turning Point or Business as Usual?’, Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2000 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 2000), pp.61–85.

39. Mogens Lykketoft in a speech for ‘Det Udenrigspolitiske Selskab’, 23 Aug. 2001 (transcript).

40. In March 2003, he wrote: ‘Who can best guarantee the security of Denmark? My answer is very clear. The security of Denmark is best guaranteed by a superpower in North America instead of a fragile and movable balance of power between Germany, France and Great Britain.’ (Quoted in Ole Damkjær, ‘Den danske sten i Powells sko’, Berlingske Tidende, 1 May 2004.)

41. Christian-Marius Stryker, Raketteskjold og Thule-radaren – Strategisk ressurs eller problem?, DUPI Working Paper 2001/2 (Copenhagen: Dansk Udenrigspolitisk Institut, 2001).

42. This development is elaborated by Lisbet Zilmer-Johns, Dansk sikkerhedspolitisk profil – tilbage til start?, IIS Report 2003/1 (Copenhagen: Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier, 2003).

43. Udenrigsministeriet, Missilforsvar og Thule-radaren (Copenhagen: Udenrigsministeriet, March 2003), p.6.

44. Udenrigspolitisk Redegørelse ved Landsstyreformanden, FM 2003/12 (Nuuk: FM, 2003), p.2.

45. Ibid., p.3.

46. See Betænkning afgivet af Selvstyrekommissionen (Nuuk: Grønlands Hjemmestyre, April 2003), p.11.

47. Ibid., p.10.

48. Oplæg til Grønlands Hjemmestyres forslag til modernisering af forsvarsaftalen (Nuuk: Udenrigskontoret, 30 Jan. 2003).

49. Vedr. Oplæg til Grønlands Hjemmestyres forslag til modernisering af forsvarsaftalen (Nuuk: Udenrigskontoret, 14 Feb. 2003).

50. Author's interview with confidential source.

51. Principerklæring, Statement from the North Atlantic Group, Jan. 2003 (transcript).

52. Udenrigsministeriet, Missilforsvar (note 43).

53. Ministry of Defence, Missile Defence: a public discussion paper (London: Ministry of Defence, 2002).

54. Dragsdahl, ‘The Danish Dilemma’ (note 32).

55. Parliamentary Debate, 3 May 2001 (general access), <www.folketinget.dk>.

56. Parliamentary Debate F 13, 5 April 2002 (general access), <www.folketinget.dk>.

57. Udenrigsministeriet, Missilforsvar (note 43) p.28.

58. His description of Detachment 3 reflected a briefing by Colonel Lu Christensen, Thule Air Base Mission Briefing, Air Force Space Command, Feb. 2003 (typescript).

59. Greenland KNR Television, 10 April 2003 (note by the author).

60. This division of the debate in a moral and a political dimension is elaborated by Kristensen, Greenland, Denmark and the debate on missile defense (note 13).

61. Ibid., p.23.

62. Henrik Lund, ‘Foreword’ in Claeson (ed.), Grønland Middelhavets Perle (note 15) p.3.

63. Jørgen Dragsdahl, ‘Grønlanssk missildans’, Information, 10 April 2003.

64. Many of his articles and speeches have been collected in Lars-Emil Johansen, Taler og artikler 2001-2004 (Copenhagen: Den Nordatlantiske Gruppe Christiansborg, 2005).

65. Parliamentary Debate, 29 April 2003 (general access), <www.folketinget.dk>.

66. Politiken, 5 March 2003.

67. Lars-Emil Johansen, ‘We also accept American Express’, Weekendavisen, 6 Feb. 2004.

68. A comparable terminology is developed by Joseph Nye: ‘soft power’ is defined as the ability to ‘getting others to want what you want’. Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Bound to Lead. The Changing Nature of American Power (New York: Basic Books 1990) p.31.

69. Stryker, Raketteskjold og Thule-radaren (note 41).

70. Institute for Security Studies, European Defence – A Proposal for a White Paper (Brussels: Institute for Security Studies, May 2004), p.32.

71. Even the former Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen describes this as a factor during the Thule debate in 1987: Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, Fodfejl (note 18) p.221.