Culture of cooperation? Civil-military relations in Danish homeland security

The Danish engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan has brought the country to the attention of sympathizers of the international salafi-jihadist network inspired by Al-Qaida. Thus, arguably an activist foreign policy must go hand in hand with a robust, flexible, and coordinated homeland security system. This working paper looks at ongoing Danish efforts to enhance civil-military cooperation in homeland security. Drawing on organizational theory and organizational change theory, the paper argues that civil-military cooperation depends on forging the right structures but also on the promotion of a culture of cross-governmental cooperation to reduce friction between civilian and military organizational cultures as well as battles of turf. It suggests that a targeted effort to promote a culture of cross-governmental cooperation through joint strategic level education and common exercising should be an imminent concern in order to make civilian and military agencies comfortable with new structures and requirements for cooperation.