This book examines the dynamics of intelligence practices in the Scandinavian culture of high social cohesion and high trust.
Situated within the new body of scholarly literature, the book emphasises critical empirical investigations of intelligence practices, highlighting the specific cultural settings of such practices. By providing Scandinavian perspectives on intelligence studies, the work distinguishes Scandinavian intelligence studies from the predominant Anglo-American perspectives. Throughout the Western world, the past two decades have generated a rapid expansion of the legal mandate, funding, and capabilities of intelligence agencies which, simultaneously, have been pushed to renegotiate and renew their legitimacy and democratic mandate in response to a recurrent pattern of scandals, leaks, and failures. While these tendencies are evident also in Scandinavia, the book argues that it is important to emphasise the unique context of cohesion and trust in state agencies that differentiates Scandinavian welfare states from the American (and to a lesser extent British) contexts. This book brings together scholars from Norway, Sweden and Denmark to address the continuous renegotiation of the legitimacy of state intelligence as it plays out in a Scandinavian setting.
This book will be of interest to students of intelligence studies, Nordic politics, security studies and International Relations.
Foreword: Inventing Intelligence Studies in Scandinavia Wilhelm Agrell Introduction Kira Vrist Rønn, Adam Diderichsen, Mia Hartmann, and Melanie Hartvigsen PART I: LEGITIMACY AND COOPERATION 1. Glad to be of service: The Role of Small States in Intelligence Cooperation and the Myth of the “quid pro quo” Principle Thomas Wegener Friis 2. Little Brother Legitimacy: Small States and Intelligence Sharing as Gift-giving Adam Diderichsen 3. Trust Games in Denmark and Sweden: Unpacking Trust in International Intelligence Cooperation on SIGINT Hedvig Ördén 4. Entanglements of secrecy and disclosure: The everyday life of inter-agency intelligence education in Denmark Maya Mynster Christensen PART II: ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRUST 5. Spy Hunters in a High-Trust Society: A Study of Secrecy, Suspicion and Cooperation in Swedish Counterintelligence in the 1980s Tony Ingesson 6. Scandinavian Police Intelligence Services: Friends or foes? On the normative desirability of civilian versus policiary intelligence agencies Ingvild Bruce 7. Intelligence oversight as an institutional battlefield: The Danish experience Melanie Hartvigsen, Mia Hartmann and Adam Diderichsen 8. Intelligence Oversight in Sweden and the Role of the Opposition: Three Intelligence Crises and their Political Repercussions Johan Matz PART III: INTELLIGENCE PRACTICES 9. Intelligence Education for the Future: What Kind of Future is the Scandinavian Intelligence Community prepared for? Karen Lund Petersen and Kira Vrist Rønn 10. Recruiting the Swedish Intelligence Professional Sebastian Larsson 11. Negotiating and Formulating Intelligence Requirements in Denmark Tallat Rønn Shakoor PART IV: TRUST AND CULTURES OF SECRECY 12. Exploiting trust: A moral guide Lars Christie and Andreas Eriksen 13. Diffusion and Resistance to Intelligence in the Norwegian Police Helene O. I. Gundhus and Christin T. Wathne 14. Metaphors We Hide Behind: What Metaphors of Data, Information, and Technology Can Tell Us About Scandinavian Intelligence Practices Sille Obelitz Søe 15. The Hyper-Secret Danish Intelligence Culture. Making sense of the Recurring Intelligence Scandals in Denmark Alexandra Franzén
Kira Vrist Rønn is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark. Adam Diderichsen is a researcher at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark. Mia Hartmann works as advisor and project manager at the Royal Danish Defence College, at the Department of Leadership and Organisation. Melanie Hartvigsen is a PhD fellow at the University of Southern Denmark, Center for War Studies.
