ABSTRACT
The inclination to seek security through alliance and cooperation with the Western powers is tied up with the exposed position of Denmark in the East-West conflict. The strategic significance of Denmark in relation to the East-West conflict stems from the country’s proximity to the Soviet Union and some of its major allies and from its adjacency to Germany. Springing from a series of policy decisions, most of them results of interaction among a number of domestic political forces, Danish deviation from alliance policy can be examined most appropriately in the context of the political life of the country. The domestic considerations behind Danish tendencies towards semialignment were partly of a party-political and partly of an economic nature. The tendency in Danish security policy, namely, to shun engagement in the great power conflict and minimize defence efforts, may also be seen as conditioned by systemic and geopolitical circumstances.
