The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Master's Theses Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects Spring 5-15-2020 Tinderbox: Danish-Russian Relations, 1989-2019 Maddy Ghose [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/thes Part of the Cultural History Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, Eastern European Studies Commons, European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, International Relations Commons, Military History Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Political History Commons, Scandinavian Studies Commons, and the Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ghose, Maddy, "Tinderbox: Danish-Russian Relations, 1989-2019" (2020). Master's Theses. 1279. https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/1279 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tinderbox: Danish-Russian Relations, 1989-2019 Maddy Ghose University of San Francisco May 2020 Master of Arts in International Studies Tinderbox: Danish-Russian Relations, 1989-2019 In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS in INTERNATIONAL STUDIES by Maddy Ghose May 1, 2020 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approval by all the members, this thesis project has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. APPROVED: ________________________________________ ________________________ Capstone Adviser Date ________________________________________ ________________________ i Abstract This thesis documents and analyzes the major trends of the military, political, economic, and cultural relationships between Denmark and Russia from 1989 to 2019. I document the relationship from the Danish perspective, using primary sources, with the aim to conduct analysis of Danish politicians’ speeches and activities during this period. The outcome is a comprehensive image of the Danish-Russian bilateral relationship at the present time. This relationship has fluctuated widely during the time period under study. Shared economic development interests in the 1990s contributed to a positive relationship; controversy surrounding the war in Chechnya and an assertive Danish prime minister caused a severe downturn in relations during the 2000s; between 2009 and 2014, Danish economic interests took top priority and helped salvage the relationship with Russia; but following what the West perceived as Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014, combined with developments in the European energy sector, we are now seeing another low period in the Danish-Russian relationship. The fact that Denmark plays a key role in the linkages between European energy security and expansion of Russian energy exports, and has through its connection with Greenland a voice in the issues of sovereignty and access in the Arctic, competition over which is only going to increase in the coming years, underscores the importance of understanding this relationship. ii Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 5 History and Background ............................................................................................................................ 8 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Military Relations ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Political Relations ...................................................................................................................................... 55 Economic Relations ................................................................................................................................... 77 Cultural Relations ................................................................................................................................... 103 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 119 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................... 125 Chronology of Denmark’s governments ........................................................................................... 125 Guide to Danish political parties ....................................................................................................... 126 Maps ..................................................................................................................................................... 126 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 130 iii List of Figures 1. Map of Denmark. p. 126. 2. Map of Baltic Sea Region. p. 127. 3. Map of Arctic coast countries. p. 128. 4. Map of Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. p. 129. 5. Map of Russian gas pipelines to Europe. p. 129. List of Tables 1. Chronology of Denmark’s governments. p. 125. 2. Guide to Danish political parties. p. 126. iv Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank everyone at USF’s MAIS program, especially Professors Dowd-Uribe, Bercault, Zarobell, Cantero, and Gifford. Most of all, I would like to thank my advisor Filip Kovacevic – you instantly supported this topic idea as soon as you heard it, and your guidance, support, and knowledge made sure that I wrote something I’m proud of. Ian, Keti, and Carlos – you’ve been my family in San Francisco since the day we all met through MAIS. Your help, encouragement, and friendship has been constant for almost two years now and I’m sure that without them, this project would have been different; my experience in San Francisco certainly would have. Zach – when we met, I was just starting out on this monster of a project. A year and a half later, it’s finally done. Grad school asked a lot of me, and that means it asked a lot of you too. I don’t need to tell you what that entailed or what that took; I do need to tell you thank you. Your support has meant everything, and I hope that I can be half as good a partner to you when it’s your turn. I have a good example to work from. Finally, the biggest thank you has to go to my parents. In multiple ways, I wouldn’t have been able to do this program at all or earn this degree without you. This won’t even begin to cover it, but thank you so much for everything. Og Mor, du får lige en ekstra lille tak fra mig, efter mine mange spørgsmål om sprog og ordforråd og dine minder. I hope to see both of you after we are freed from quarantine so I can share this with you. v 1 Introduction In August 2019, American president Donald Trump approached the newly-elected Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, with a real estate opportunity: he wanted to buy the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Frederiksen was, at the time, visiting Greenland. “This is an absurd discussion,” she told reporters.1 “I persistently hope that this was not meant seriously.”2 Trump called her response “nasty”, before lashing out against Denmark on Twitter and attacking the country’s NATO spending for not being high enough.3 He then canceled his upcoming state visit to Denmark, planned for the following month. This episode came seemingly out of nowhere and was widely ridiculed around the world. It also had the potential to be a confusing case for many casual American onlookers – as a small country, Denmark is often overlooked on the international stage, especially in the American perspective. However, looking past the jokes and incredulous reactions that ran rampant following Trump’s proposal, this episode actually serves as a near-perfect microcosm of Denmark’s bilateral relationship with a country that was not directly involved in the August drama: Russia. Greenland, an island of over 800,000 square miles, is a highly strategic chip for Denmark, which on its own is only around 16,000 square miles. Denmark is also located some eight hundred miles from the Arctic Circle, while parts of Greenland are themselves located in the Arctic Circle. Greenland gives Denmark a voice in Arctic issues where it otherwise would have none. The Arctic is a region with rapidly growing significance to the rest of the world – as climate change takes its toll on the planet and melts more and more Arctic ice, new shipping 1 Frederiksen qtd. in Kielgast 2019. 2 Frederiksen qtd. in Juncher Jørgensen 2019. 3 Trump qtd. in Baker and Haberman 2019; Trump 2019. 2 lanes in the High North and new opportunities for drilling natural gas and oil are opening up. These openings are of high interest to, among other actors, both the United States and Russia. Greenland is centrally located within these areas of interest.