BREAKING: "Later this week, Denmark and the US will sign a defence cooperation agreement"

Jan Oberg

December 19, 2023

It’s a damn good thing we have Washington to inform the Danes about what’s coming, right before Christmas when people are thinking about everything else.

The procedure is completely obscene: An agreement is first signed (as with Norway, Finland and Sweden), and then it must (possibly) be approved by the Danish parliament: How on earth would it be possible for Denmark to withdraw and say that “thanks to our democracy, we unfortunately have to cancel the agreement again”?

It’s not going to happen. Public debate until later this week?? The Danish historically uniquely authoritarian government wants no debate – can’t tolerate it intellectually or morally.

Two to four decades ago, this fundamental Danish security policy issue would have been the subject of a public, broad-based commission report that would have analysed the pros and cons of various imagined conflict and war scenarios.

And then there would have been a reasonable public debate.

Now, the Frederiksen government is fixing Denmark’s American future during the Christmas holidays. It’s completely irresponsible, but they don’t realise that; to them, everything is so damn simple.

It can only go wrong one day. Even the failure of NATO’s expansion and the rearmament of Ukraine or other blind loyalty policies in favour of the US apparently doesn’t make anyone responsible stop and think.

Danmarks Radio – DR public ‘service’ – of course only interviews one military person dressed in military uniform inside and outside. It doesn’t strike them that this man from the Danish Defence Academy is a clear party to the case, obviously positive, and certainly not an impartial expert.

He has the nerve to say that American weapons should now be pre-stocked in Denmark because it would “take far too long to get things transported here from the US, says Anders Puck Nielsen.”

Oh – and you find this out just like that now after Denmark’s 74-year NATO membership where the cornerstones have always been: No foreign bases, no foreign troops, no pre-storage, no nuclear weapons on Danish soil and no cooperation with the NATO nuclear planning group?

All this will be cancelled over Christmas. Just so you know. As a trifle, an expedition case

The journalists don’t ask questions but hold a megaphone; they don’t ask what this means: that the US can conduct “military operations in our neighbourhood, thereby improving our own security!” (my italics)

Which operations? And how exactly do pre-stocking and these military operations in Denmark’s neighbourhood contribute to improving “our own security”? It’s clear-cut propaganda without the slightest analysis or relation to the real world. An empty claim.

Whatever the US and the Frederiksen government do over people’s heads – in worse than Putin-style – is simply and by definition good for “our security”.

In no time at all, I would be able to provide solid arguments that all of this increases Denmark’s insecurity, that it is much more complex and deserve analysis before any decision is made:

That it shortens the warning and possible negotiation time in a crisis; that this is a further provocation that Russia will view negatively; that this agreement in its consequences will force Denmark into war earlier than otherwise and reduce the Danish government’s first duty: To enforce Denmark’s legal and political sovereignty and decision-making rights over its own future, etc. (The most important question for any government is: Should we or should we not participate in war?)

Furthermore, that any US base – now 30-40 in the Nordic region? – will be an immediate target for Russian rockets in the first hours of a war, and death and destruction for miles around is guaranteed. That the US already has 600+ bases around the world and is a sick militaristic system that has lost all its wars and can never get enough weapons and bases.

And that Denmark will be even less allowed to promote mediation, the UN, international disarmament, confidence-building measures, international law, etc. because it is, in practice, the extended arm of the US and not (in this area) a sovereign state.

At DR, they have no idea how important this issue is. Or maybe someone is pulling the strings from above and doing it this way, precisely because they know that this is the biggest break with Danish foreign and security policy since 1949 and that critical questions about the US will not be raised with impunity.

This agreement will be made with the most belligerent and mass-murdering country since 1945. At a time when that country is fully behind – actively supporting – what is indisputably the largest genocide in the West since the war.

If you sleep in a democracy, you risk waking up in a dictatorship – as a wise man is said to have said.

This is – I repeat – indecent and highly security-reducing. With 45 years of scientific experience in theory and practice in these areas, I know a little about these things. I must sound the alarm – even though I know that no Danish media, also not DR, would seek my and others’ critical analyses and perspectives.

This is militarism. This is how the cancer-like MIMAC works – the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex – which has never had such a tailwind in the West, in Denmark, as it has today.

Danish policy promotes the risk of World War III at a time when anything else would be both conceivable and possible. Denmark is on the wrong side of history; the world wants a different path than that of the US. And Denmark.

Now, every honest, peaceful Dane (regardless of their opinion on the matter as such) must simply take to the streets and protest against the government’s ever-increasing abuse of power and ever-increasing blind loyalty to the US as it continues to recklessly jeopardise Denmark’s future well-being.

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Associate Editor at Russia in Global Affairs in Moscow. Board member at International Institute for Peace (IPP) in Vienna. 
Board member at Center for Nationalism Studies (CNS) in Sarajevo.
 Editorial Board member at Contemporary World Economy in Moscow.
 EMPLOYMENT University of South-Eastern Norway
 – Professor, April 2020 – ongoing. Russia in Global Affairs
 – Associate Editor Nov 2018 – ongoing. Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia – Professor Aug 2018 – April 2020. Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
 – Visiting Scholar, Aug 2017 – Aug 2018. Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia – Adjunct Research Fellow Aug 2016 – Aug 2019. 
 Macquarie University (PICT), Sydney, Australia
 – Lecturer/Scholarly Teaching Fellow, Feb 2011 –Dec 2017
. EDUCATION Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands – 
PhD Politics and International Relations (Doctor of Social Sciences) 2010-2014. 

 Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia – 
PhD Politics and International Relations (Doctor of Philosophy) 2010-2014. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia 
- Master of International...
“>Sino–Indian Agreement 1954, are: • mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, • mutual non-aggression, • mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, • equality and co-operation for mutual benefit, and • peaceful co-existence Read more about it here. These principles, also called Panchsheel, are fundamental to Chinese foreign policy and embedded in the preamble of the country’s constitution. Here is an excerpt of the invitation letter: “The commemorative events, to be held under the theme “From the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” will begin with a commemorative conference, followed by a luncheon and sub-forums. His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, will attend and deliver an important speech at the commemorative conference, and his Excellency Li Qiang, premier of the State Council, will moderate the conference. His Excellency Wang Yi, member of the...
It can safely be assumed that NATO leaders and their media don’t care much about what the President of Serbia, Александар Вучић – Aleksandar Vučić, has to say about the NATO-Russia conflict and the war in Ukraine. Not only do they think that they know everything better than anyone else, but they also have their own experience with Serbia since NATO violated its own defensive Treaty and bombed Kosovo out of Serbia – and blamed Serbia for everything that happened in then Yugoslavia. Serbia and the Serbs have been perceived as the odd man out among the elites of NATO and the EU, as someone you fundamentally look down upon. But perhaps they – and the rest of us – should give Vučić a fair hearing on this particular issue? In my opinion, Vučić here says extremely important things based on analysis and an ability to see things from more...

Recent Articles

Jan Oberg May 15, 2026 Go to this Fox News page and scroll the whole way down: President Donald Trump tells the world that his meeting with President Xi Jinping yielded a lot of very concrete political and economic results – of course, only where the Chinese side, according to him, agreed with him. He does not mention the Taiwan issue, but Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says that it did not feature prominently in their talks and that the US policy on Taiwan has not changed. Then go to China Daily – or Global Times – and you will see that for the Chinese it is framework, principles, structure of cooperation etc. that matters – all embedded in the overall idea of “constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.” Nowhere is any concrete agreement or deal – all that Trump refers to – mentioned. At the general level, this gives you insights into the very different social...
Lena Petrova of “World Affairs In Context” with more than half a million subscribers on YouTube wanted to explore what a peace researcher like me has to say about, among other things, the First and the Second Cold War and why eethics has disappeared from politics. I am particularly happy about this conversation that also yielded an amazing number of very appreciative comments on YouTube. No doubt, people are longing for alternatives, including peace perspectives.
The MIMAC – Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex – drives the world’s rampant militarism and wars without end. Here is a short reflection of how it works against all interests of humanity. #5 deals with why there is no real enemy or threat images/analysis. It’s all ex-post constructions. And, btw, theTFF Peace Pulse is now on Rumble.

TFF on Substack

Discover more from TFF Transnational Foundation & Jan Oberg.

Most Popular

Jan Oberg May 15, 2026 Go to this Fox News page and scroll the whole way down: President Donald Trump tells the world that his meeting with President Xi Jinping yielded a lot of very concrete political and economic results – of course, only where the Chinese side, according to him, agreed with him. He does not mention the Taiwan issue, but Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says that it did not feature prominently in their talks and that the US policy on Taiwan has not changed. Then go to China Daily – or Global Times – and you will see that for the Chinese it is framework, principles, structure of cooperation etc. that matters – all embedded in the overall idea of “constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.” Nowhere is any concrete agreement or deal – all that Trump refers to – mentioned. At the general level, this gives you insights into the very different social...
Lena Petrova of “World Affairs In Context” with more than half a million subscribers on YouTube wanted to explore what a peace researcher like me has to say about, among other things, the First and the Second Cold War and why eethics has disappeared from politics. I am particularly happy about this conversation that also yielded an amazing number of very appreciative comments on YouTube. No doubt, people are longing for alternatives, including peace perspectives.
The MIMAC – Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex – drives the world’s rampant militarism and wars without end. Here is a short reflection of how it works against all interests of humanity. #5 deals with why there is no real enemy or threat images/analysis. It’s all ex-post constructions. And, btw, theTFF Peace Pulse is now on Rumble.
Read More
Screenshot-2026-05-15-103534
Jan Oberg May 15, 2026 Go to this Fox News page and scroll the whole way down: President Donald Trump tells the world that his meeting with President Xi Jinping yielded a lot of very concrete political and economic results – of course, only where the Chinese side, according to him, agreed with him. He does not mention the Taiwan issue, but Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says that it did not feature prominently in their talks and that the US policy on Taiwan has not changed. Then go to China Daily – or Global Times – and you will see that for the Chinese it is framework, principles, structure of cooperation etc. that matters – all embedded in the overall idea of “constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.” Nowhere is any concrete agreement or deal – all that Trump refers to – mentioned. At the general level, this gives you insights into the very different social...
Screenshot-2026-05-12-104023
Lena Petrova of “World Affairs In Context” with more than half a million subscribers on YouTube wanted to explore what a peace researcher like me has to say about, among other things, the First and the Second Cold War and why eethics has disappeared from politics. I am particularly happy about this conversation that also yielded an amazing number of very appreciative comments on YouTube. No doubt, people are longing for alternatives, including peace perspectives.
Screenshot-2026-04-13-154551 (2)
The MIMAC – Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex – drives the world’s rampant militarism and wars without end. Here is a short reflection of how it works against all interests of humanity. #5 deals with why there is no real enemy or threat images/analysis. It’s all ex-post constructions. And, btw, theTFF Peace Pulse is now on Rumble.
Screenshot-2026-04-13-154551 (1)
Jan Oberg, TFF director April 28, 2026 In this third TFF Peace Pulse, I make the important distinction between the violence and the conflict that violence is a symptom of. If you want peace, focus on the underlying conflict because that is the key to resolution, peacemaking, and a better future for the parties. The West is obsessed with violence, just look around you – and 90+ per cent of the public debate is about military issues and other violence – totally wasted for peace. These Peace Pulses will only be published here a few times. You will also not find them on YouTube and Vimeo because both platforms have blocked TFF and me; you know, peace is dangerous these days. Most TFF’s videos since 2007 are now on Rumble.
Screenshot-2026-04-13-154551
In contrast to most, we’ll bring alternatives, solutions, hope and strategies for a better future. Times are dangerous, yes, but that only intensifies the need for constructive thinking and action! Jan Oberg, TFF director April 13, 2026 The new TFF Peace Pulse uses video messages in a new way: Max 3-5-minute-long comments, ideas or perhaps mini-lectures, all about peace – positive peace. We launch them today on April 13, 2026 with a carefully crafted visual aesthetic fitting the content. We hope to publish them regularly from now on. We launch Peace Pulse (PP) – for a number of reasons. The world is in chaos, and there are countless reasons to feel concerned, frustrated, even angry. The atmosphere is saturated with doom and gloom, with negative energy and rear‑mirror thinking, while vision, imagination, alternatives, strategies and genuine future‑mindedness remain in short supply. And without them, we simply can’t save the world. Looking at problems from a hundred angles will...
IMG_5165 (1)
PART II — Publishing Peace in a System That Prioritises Militarism Jan Oberg, TFF director April 10, 2026 How TFF Maintains a Daily Voice in a Digital World Built for Noise This article is part of the series “TFF at 40″ and it invites you to learn about Four Decades of Publishing Peace. It takes a look at how a small, people‑financed peace foundation has communicated across four generations of technology — from wax stencils and fax machines to mass email and Substack — and why TFF continues to publish every single day in a system that rewards noise, conflict, and militarism. ◆ What it means to publish peace every single day in a digital system built for 24/7 news and other noise, confrontation, and militarism. How TFF’s independence, continuity, and global readership defy algorithms, donor cycles, and Western media censorhip — and why the Majority World keeps listening. When the...