Strategy or No Strategy: Explaining the Absence of a Danish National Security Strategy
Abstract
My thesis integrates findings from the disciplines of strategic studies and institutional analysis to ask two intertwined questions. First, does Denmark -- a small sovereign state -- need a public national security strategy? Although there is ample literature debating the merits and necessity of national strategies, no scholar has yet drawn on this literature to ask whether Denmark would benefit from a publicly available strategy. The author analyzes official texts from Denmark's civil-service community and legislative committees to argue that Denmark needs a grand strategy to produce feasible, harmonious, and prioritized national security policy. Second, why does Denmark not have a national security strategy? The author applies institutional analysis to explore the incentive structures that have caused Denmark's policymakers to avoid drafting a security strategy. He concludes, contra Williamson Murray, that Denmark does need a strategy. However, significant institutional hurdles within Denmark's legislative committees and civil-service ranks hinder its adoption.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA590401
Entities
People
- Nicolai Schat-eppers
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College