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The Defence and Security Studies at DIIS

The Defence and Security Studies are carried out by DIIS for the Danish Ministry of Defence.

The aim of these studies is to provide multidisciplinary in-depth knowledge on topics that are central for Danish defence and security policy, both currently and in the long term.

This site is for our English-speaking audience and it only contains publications and activities in English. For a complete list of publications and activities, please visit the Danish version of the site. 

DANCON Irak juni 2004. Foto: forsvarsgalleriet.dk
Read more (in Danish)

Projekterne på FSPS2024 afdækker en bred vifte af emner med relevans for Danmarks sikkerhed, hvoraf flere har afsæt i den aktuelle situation i Ukraine, og ligger inden for fem overordnede temaer:  

  1. Ruslands invasion af Ukraine
  1. Østersøen, Arktis og nordisk forsvarssamarbejde
  1. Ny teknologi og dansk sikkerhedspolitik
  1. Europæisk forsvarssamarbejde og NATO
  1. Usikkerhed og terrorisme i Nordafrika og Mellemøsten 
Contact (in Danish)

Spørgsmål om strategisk projektkoordinering, kontakt seniorforsker og FSPS-programleder Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke: cfb@diis.dk

Spørgsmål om administration, kontakt seniorcontroller og administrativ FSPS-koordinator Jette Albrechtsen: jeal@diis.dk

Contact

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke

Head of unit, Senior researcher
+45 3269 8938
cfb@diis.dk
Jette Albrechtsen

Jette Albrechtsen

Senior Controller
+45 6185 1543
jeal@diis.dk

Research and activites

  • DIIS_PB_War-volunteers_June_2024_Cover.jpg
    Photo/illustration by Ukrinform / Alamy Stock Photo
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    War volunteers in the digital age: How new technologies transform conflict dynamics

    Citizens traveling to participate in foreign wars have long posed significant challenges for states. The advent of smartphones and global connectivity has added new layers of complexity to this issue. With a particular focus on the conflict in Ukraine, this brief explores how digital technologies are reshaping the landscape of foreign participation in warfare.
  • 03_Kaliningrad Oblast 2024_COVER.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Kaliningrad Oblast 2024

    Russia will keep using the semi-exclave to provoke its neighbours and fuel its belligerent anti-Western rhetoric
  • Europes role in the sahel
    Photo/illustration by Florent Vergnes/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    Europe's role in the Sahel

  • Cover DIIS Report 2024 11.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Ukraine's international legion and its volunteers

    New report outlines the improvisation of the legion and tells the story of Danish volunteers
  • Corporate Cosmos - cover
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Corporate cosmos

    The commercial American space industry has political ideas that are shaping our future, shows new report
  • Cover DIIS Report 2024 04.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Pushback: the limits of power in Erdogan's Turkey

  • Cover DIIS Report 2024 06.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Invisible frontlines. Safeguarding Europe's energy infrastructure

    Safeguarding Europe's energy infrastructure
  • Cover DIIS Report 2024 05.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Out with the old, in with the new? The EU’s path out of the energy crisis

    The EU’s path out of the energy crisis
  • How the Nordic countries approach Taiwan
    Photo/illustration by Cecilie Castor
    DIIS Report
    2024

    Much ado, little afoot?

    How the Nordics approach Taiwan
  • Cover for brief on aid in Ukraine #2
    Photo/illustration by Abaca Ritzau Scanpix
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    Humanitarian principles are under fire in Ukraine

    Ukraine presents a unique challenge for many international humanitarian organisations. Operating in a context of heightened geo-political and donor interest, and in close proximity to military actors, amateur volunteer groups and Ukrainian civil society are testing the core principles of neutrality and impartiality that once underpinned humanitarian work.
  • dependency-china-green-minerals-cover
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    The European Union can go green and lower dependencies on China

    The European Union must resist embracing fatalism when it comes to lowering dependencies on China in critical mineral supply chains essential to producing clean energy technologies
  • Cover for brief on aid in Ukraine
    Photo/illustration by Olga Maltseva AFP Ritzau Scanpix
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    The war in Ukraine poses unprecedented threats to aid workers

    An interstate war in Europe presents new security challenges for humanitarians. Along the 960km Ukraine-Russia frontline, humanitarian infrastructure has been hit by shelling, missiles and drone strikes, and aid delivery disrupted by electronic warfare. Supporting specialised training and removing outdated bureaucratic burdens are some of the ways in which donors and policymakers can help humanitarian organisations adapt to this new context.
  • Somaliland
    Photo/illustration by Feisal Omar/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    Somaliland at the centre of rising tensions in the Horn of Africa

  • DIIS_PB_EU_Technology_Resilience_Autonomy_WEB_Cover.jpg
    Photo/illustration by Marie Barse via Open AI ChatGPT Dall E
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    EU technology resilience and autonomy

    In the face of growing international competition between both individual states and coalitions of states, the European Union is developing a new approach towards technological resilience and autonomy.
  • DIIS_Energy som våben_FORSIDE.jpg
    Photo/illustration by Studio Jakob Glad
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2024

    Energy as a weapon - decoding blackmail tactics in Europe

    ‘Energy blackmail’ became a buzzword following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent energy crisis, but the phenomenon is not new. Energy blackmail has been employed by states to leverage their strategic energy resources for decades. In Europe, the weaponisation of energy predates Vladimir Putin’s time in Kremlin. Despite EU efforts to diversify its energy supply, the threat of energy blackmail persists, posing challenges not only to traditional energy dependencies but also to the increasingly digitalised energy sector.
  • Cover brien counter piracy Guinea Bay
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2023

    Counter-piracy in the Gulf of Guinea must not overlook local struggle and suffering

    Climate change, illegal fishing, and environmental damage all contribute to the lack of security that coastal populations in the Gulf of Guinea suffer from. To Denmark, as well as several other European countries, the Gulf of Guinea remains an important region for commercial shipping. To enhance responses to piracy and crime at sea it is necessary to take a holistic approach which also considers the lack of opportunities for making a legal and sustainable living in the region.
  • Cover Cyber espionage DIIS Report 2023 04.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2023

    Cyber espionage: a challenge to international law in the age of intelligence competition

    The rise of cyber espionage has created new challenges for international law, but states are hesitant to let international law limit their ability to spy online
  • Children in Uummannaq
    Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

    'Free Association' in Greenland? Caribbean and Pacific experiences

    DIIS, auditorium
    To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS invites for a seminar with professor Rafael Cox Alomar, expert in comparative constitutional law in the context of decolonization.
  • cover.png
    Photo/illustration by NASA Photo Alamy Stock Photo
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2023

    Arctic climate science is caught in the middle of geopolitical tension

    The frozen relations between Russia and the West have serious ramifications in the Arctic, politically and scientifically. It is time to think of ways to exempt climate science and data from this geopolitical split.
  • us-china-tech-war
    Photo/illustration by Oween CPY via Shutterstock
    Podcast
    2023

    US-China tech war is a battle for world dominance

  • Cover for brief on China and microchip production
    Photo/illustration by Dragon Claws / Alamy Stock Photo
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2023

    Export controls effectively constrain China's advance in microchip production

    American and allied export controls have been successful in slowing the advance of China’s equipment for semiconductor chip production. Chinese players have been increasingly cut off from a global industry where customer-client interaction is essential. The US and its allies should continue with the controls and subsidies they have in place but expanding them further, as some advocate, would be excessively punitive.
  • china-response-us-tech-war
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2023

    China's response to the US tech war

    The closing of detours
  • Cover for brief on EPC
    DIIS Policy Brief
    2023

    The European Political Community

    Putting politics first?
  • Children in Uummannaq
    Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

    Next on Greenland’s path to greater independence: 'Free Association'?

    The auditorium in Pikialaarfik (the black building next to Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland Kivioq 5, Nuuk
    To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS in collaboration with Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland invites for a seminar in Nuuk
  • Cover DIIS Report 2023 02.jpg
    DIIS Report
    2023

    The new EU climate and energy strategy in a time of war

    Putin’s war in Ukraine has pushed EU member states to revamp collective energy and climate action
  • Children in Uummannaq
    Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

    'Free Association' in Greenland? Caribbean and Pacific experiences

    DIIS, auditorium
    To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS invites for a seminar with professor Rafael Cox Alomar, expert in comparative constitutional law in the context of decolonization.
  • Children in Uummannaq
    Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

    Next on Greenland’s path to greater independence: 'Free Association'?

    The auditorium in Pikialaarfik (the black building next to Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland Kivioq 5, Nuuk
    To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS in collaboration with Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland invites for a seminar in Nuuk
  • Mining machinery in Greenland
    Photo/illustration by Raelene Goddard / Alamy Stock Photo
    Webinar

    Chinese involvement in the Arctic minerals sector

    What motivates Chinese companies - and their Western counterparts?
  • west africa
    Photo/illustration by Rasmus Fly Filbert
    Webinar

    West Africa Perspectives

    Online via Zoom
    It matters how the dynamics of West Africa are discussed. Join this webinar to understand why, and hear more about appropriate responses to some of the main challenges that the region is facing.
  • Pipes for the construction of the Nord Stream 2
    Photo/illustration by Stefan Sauer, DPA, Ritzau/Scanpix
    Webinar

    Caught in gas pipeline (geo)politics?

    When do energy projects transform from everyday technical matters to security issues? Is energy increasingly becoming a matter of international security dynamics? Join this panel discussion with experts with a specific view to the two gas pipeline projects currently under construction in the Baltic Sea.
  • Narsaq, Greenland. Photo: Andrew Testa/Ate03040grn/Ritzau Scanpix
    Photo/illustration by Andrew Testa/Ate03040grn/Ritzau Scanpix
    Webinar

    Greenland’s minerals and China’s green energy dominance

    A discussion based on the new Policy Brief 'Greenland’s minerals to consolidate China’s rare earth dominance?'
  • Ethiopia_Welcome_Ceremony_Tigray
    Photo/illustration by 2014_01_22_Ethiopia_Welcome_Ceremony_001, AMISOM Public Information/Tobin Jones, Flickr, CC0 1.0 copyright license
    Webinar

    The Tigray armed conflict: the state of play and dilemmas of international intervention

    Online via Zoom
    This webinar sets out to discuss the latest developments in Tigray as well as the international community’s options for intervention
  • Photo of Kony with abducted children in Paicho
    Photo/illustration by Billie O'Kademeiri
    Webinar

    Cosmic conflicts

    Religion and armed struggle
  • Livestreaming

    What next for Europe and China?

    Auditorium
    Trade and technology, diplomacy and defense, and the decade ahead

Contact

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke

Foreign policy and diplomacy
Head of unit, Senior researcher
+45 3269 8938
cfb@diis.dk
Jette Albrechtsen
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Jette Albrechtsen

Finance
Senior Controller
+45 6185 1543
jeal@diis.dk