ABSTRACT

The Scandinavian countries got off to a slow start as development aid donors. While they participated early on in the various UN-funded technical and development aid schemes, they were originally much less involved as entrepreneurs in setting up their own bilateral projects. Since the late 1960s, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have been among the OECD countries with the highest aid disbursements in relative terms. The international image of Scandinavia as a dedicated aid donor not only hinges on its relatively high aid volume and internationalist orientation but also on aid practice and quality. It is important to stress, however, that Scandinavian aid practices have never merely been the product of indigenous creativity or priority. Recent research has shown that both Norway and Denmark have experienced manifest dilemmas related to the so-called 'mixed mission' concept in Afghanistan in which civil and military activities have been understood in theory as reinforcing one another; in practice, this has rarely been achieved.