13 October 2023
Obstinate Choices
Denmark is currently going through a full-blown intelligence scandal. It includes charges of illegal activity lodged by the Danish Intelligence Oversight Board (TET) against the Danish foreign intelligence service (FE), as well as a range of criminal cases brought against the former head of FE, a former minister of defence, and a former intelligence officer on charges of leaking classified information. In this post, I argue that these scandals can best be understood through the lens of a series of obstinate choices made by the Danish government and its representatives. Seemingly, because key decision-makers lacked trust and got fed up with leaks, the situation was handled aggressively from the start, as a matter of principle. I explain the complex scandal but focus on specifics only in the case against former minister of defence, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, as his case is the most clear-cut and observable for outsiders. Continue reading >>
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15 November 2016
Who are Today’s Polish Traitors? Of Politics of Paranoia and Resentment and Missed Lessons from the Past
The governing right-wing party in Poland is quick to call opponents "traitors". A look into Polish history explains how this "culture of treason" as part of politics of memory and resentment came about. Continue reading >>
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04 August 2015