APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
spaces. Virtually all Danes, of whatever political persuasion, appear to support the civil defense effort.
3. Foreign
Since the end of World War II the Danish attitude toward world affairs has undergone a radical change. No longer confining their attention to those small problems which affect their national interests directly, the Danes have expanded their participation in international affairs to a marked degree. In common with their Scandinavian colleagues, to be sure, the Danes are sometimes motivated by simplistic moral impulses in their evaluation of complicated world problems. Thus, they tend to display an indiscriminate enthusiasm for "liberation" movements in the underdeveloped world. The concentration of leftist intellectuals in the information media has on a number of occasions given an air of "radical chic" to extreme political views - particularly where there is a suspected bullying of small nations by larger ones.
Danish leaders, however, consider their nation alert to the realities of international politics, and foreign policy since World War II has indeed evidenced a basic coherence and viability. The broad outlines of postwar foreign policy are best summarized in the membership of Denmark in four international organizations: the United Nations, NATO, the European Communities, and the Nordic Council. Any viable Danish Government of the mid-1970s is bound to accept these associations with few reservations, although it may distribute the emphasis among them, the resources allocated to each of them, and the vigor with which individual policies based on them are pursued. Government leaders evidence a sense of mission in their support of international peacekeeping and East-West "bridge-building" efforts.
a. The United Nations
Denmark was an original member of the United Nations, has taken a positive role in UN inner councils and outside activities, and has justified its own activity in other international organizations on the basis of the principles of the UN Charter. Denmark's role in the United Nations is based on a strong idealistic attraction to the concept of international cooperation and is generally supported by Danes of all political hues. To the extent that the United Nations failed to live up to its original promise as the guarantor of international security, the Danes have been disappointed, but they have shown a readiness to work for a strengthening of its practical programs and for an enhancement of its prestige. Within the UN framework, Denmark seeks the role of a conciliator, though not at the expense of principle. Denmark supported the Security Council action against the military aggression of North Korea in 1950 and backed UN efforts to restrain the USSR during its suppression of both the Hungarian Revolt in the fall of 1956 and the Czechoslovak bid for "Socialism with a human face" in the late summer of 1968. Denmark has continued to play an active part in seeking a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Danish troops have served as a part of peacekeeping forces in the Congo, Cyprus, and the Gaza Strip. Copenhagen has occasionally expressed unhappiness over the lateness and paucity of UN financing of such operations. Together with Norway, Sweden, and Finland, Denmark has moved to establish a permanent standby force of about 5,000 men, which can be placed at the disposal of the United Nations at short notice if needed to meet an emergency.
Denmark, through its membership on the UN Committee on Decolonization, has assisted at the birth of several new nations and has sought to mediate in areas of friction between Afro-Asian members and the European powers. A Danish tendency to sympathize with emergent nations has led to friction between Copenhagen and other European capitals, particularly Lisbon. Danish contributions to the UN technical assistance program are among the world's largest when considered in terms of size of the country. The Danes have followed closely the UN-sponsored efforts to reach agreement on disarmament and have regretted the lack of progress in this area. In line with disarmament under international control, Denmark has hailed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1969. It has continued to support the efforts of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva. The Danes, however, have taken the NATO line that disarmament accords must be backed by effective inspection provisions.
b. Europe
In the post-World War II period the Danes have shown some ambivalence in their relationship to their fellow Europeans. A politically and economically unified Europe is an enticing prospect, and yet for small, proud, prosperous Denmark the practical consequences of being part of such a Goliath are a cause for some doubt. For the Danes European economic integration is more attractive than political union, for Denmark must trade to live. Denmark is almost bereft of raw materials and must, in order to finance its imports and maintain its high economic
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
