Gain insight into the development of Danish defence through journalist and online media editor Peter Ernstved Rasmussen's analysis. The lecture explores how Danish politicians, civil servants and top military officials have deprioritised defence for three decades under the pretext that Denmark no longer faced any threat. This strategy was intended to allow us to save resources as long as we had soldiers for international deployment. However, the outbreak of war in Ukraine revealed that the very defence we had dismantled was now critically needed. With Donald Trump's entry to the White House and his plans to end the war in Ukraine and take over Greenland, it became clear that Denmark and all of Europe were completely unprepared for the new geopolitical reality.
Peter Ernstved Rasmussen is the founder of the defence media OLFI and host of Frontlinjen on Radio IIII. In his book Defenceless – When the Greatest Threat Comes from Within (2024), he investigates the political decisions and power dynamics that have undermined Danish military capacity. The lecture places the development in a broader global perspective and addresses the Ukraine war, Nato's role, European security and the rivalry between the USA, Russia and China.
Practical information
- Location: Dokk1/Aarhus Central Library
- Admission: 200 DKK
