The military geographies of Denmark: a new place in a familiar landscape

ABSTRACT Military geography is implicit in many geopolitical arguments that come with the increased great power competition. However, as military geography is one of the disciplines that informs and constitutes geopolitics it is prudent to move beyond geographical metaphors and make the military geography explicit in the argument in order to gain a better understanding of geopolitics. Using Denmark as a case, this article compares Danish military geography during the Cold War and now in the era of emerging great power competition. Danish military geography changed during the Cold War from a straits to a vulnerable flank. In the post-Cold War era, Denmark became a safe area at a long distance from expeditionary operations and is now emerging as a defendable staging area in the era of great power competition. This case shows that the military geography changed significantly with new technologies, strategies and the adversaries’ capabilities during the Cold War. We should likewise expect the military geography to be constantly changing in the new great power rivalry.