Last week, I had the pleasure to spend a whole day with Wingate University students, taking part in the Travel as a Catalyst for Change: What We Can Learn from Denmark programme, organised by DIS Study Abroad.
My presentation was dedicated to Denmark’s security dilemmas ever since mid-19th century. We went through the trauma of the Second Schleswig War, the desire for neutrality and, when it became impossible, the strong belief in NATO and transatlantic relations as the rudiments of the nation’s security. Only recently this picture has begun to change, with the 2022 referendum on dropping the EU defence cooperation opt-out clause, reverting from expeditionary forces model to more in-country territorial defence capabilities and larger defence spending.
We also went to my postdoctoral alma mater, Lund University, to talk about Sweden’s approach to security. Although it is culturally close to Denmark, Sweden has taken a different route over the last decades. Only due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine Stockholm has drawn closer to the core of Western collective defence efforts, just as Denmark and other Nordic countries with their distinctive takes on how to maintain peace in Europe.
The possibility to meet with students whose study focus is not politics, international relations and security is in many ways something I cherish. It encourages me to think about the way I tackle such complex issues and deliver them to people who live their lives outside of my professional bubble. Strengthening such skills has recently become critical due to developments on both sides of the Atlantic. Growing polarisation, negative consequences of the ubiquity of social media, as well as isolationist and chauvinist tendencies can only be addressed with grassroots education work, inclusive discussions and community building approach.
We will not achieve it without stepping out of our comfort zones and exposing ourselves to others’ views. I am ever so grateful to such opportunities in my daily academic work.