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ID: 158106

Bandwagon for status: changing Patterns in the Nordic States Status-seeking Strategies? / Pedersen, Rasmus Brun

Pedersen, Rasmus Brun	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Why do the small Nordic states engage themselves in militarized interventions alongside the United States? The article argues that the Nordic states gradually have begun to perceive militarized coalition participation as an important tool to gain reputation and improve their status position. A good relationship with the United States is considered as a means to either consolidate or improve their relative status position and also secure protection or ‘shelter’ against regional competitors by improving their reputation. Empirically, the article contributes to our understanding of the status-seeking strategies of the Nordic countries and how they might have utilized a more militarized activism to seek status that departs from the traditional Nordic internationalism. Theoretically, the article contributes to our understanding of the concept of ‘status’ in international relations by offering a new explanation of the puzzling willingness of small states to use military means in international conflicts where immaterial gains play a larger role than otherwise assumed in the realist small-state literature.

Key Words

Changing Patterns ; Bandwagon for Status ; Nordic States Status-Seeking Strategies

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ID: 115271

Danish foreign policy activism: differences in kind or degree? / Pedersen, Rasmus Brun

Pedersen, Rasmus Brun	Journal Article
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2012.

Summary/Abstract

Danish foreign policy is under transformation. Different versions of activism have gradually replaced adaptation and lately Denmark has participated more actively and independently in world politics than ever before. The core in activism is based on a liberal value system that seems to have replaced the adaptation logics dominating Danish foreign policy during the Cold War. Activism has evolved from a multilateral inspired activism in the 1990s to a more Atlantic centred activism during the 2000s. While analysts see the different phases as opposites, my argument is that the types of activism should be seen as a difference of degree rather than a difference of kind. 'Activism' as a foreign policy strategy, however, should be considered analytically as a difference in kind from the adaptation strategies that dominated Danish foreign policy during the Cold War. The main driving force behind this transformation can be found domestically in the Liberal Party's dominant position in Danish politics.

Key Words

Liberalism ; Denmark ; Small State ; Activism ; Adaptation ; Foreign Policy

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ID: 173942

Show them the flag: status ambitions and recognition in small state coalition warfare / Pedersen, Rasmus Brun; Reykers, Yf

Pedersen, Rasmus Brun	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Why do small states actively contribute to US- and NATO-led military operations? The small state literature has recently developed a novel explanation, referring to their dependency upon the alliance hegemon. The logic is that the small states aim to improve their status and reputation in order to remain relevant and to receive protection. This article contributes to this literature by moving away from this fear of abandonment motivation towards more positive status incitements. It shows how such status motives actually guide and shape small states’ military contributions in US- or NATO-led operations. It does so by using recent innovations in process-tracing methodology to create a status-seeking mechanism. Using the case of Belgium’s participation in the military coalition against ISIL, this article goes beyond the usual Scandinavian suspects in the small state literature and demonstrates that status motivations have relevance for a wider group of small states.

Key Words

NATO ; Realism ; United States ; Belgium ; Process-Tracing ; Status,

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