Description
Western small states often conduct niche diplomacy centered around human rights-based norms. Denmark is a good example of that: during its campaign for a UN Security Council Seat, it proclaimed the goal to defend the rules-based international order and the norms within it. The state consistently supports human protection norms, such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and international accountability for atrocities; norms that lie at the core of international political liberalism. Denmark’s 2025-2026 Security Council seat offers an opportunity to evaluate how the state’s government positions itself in norm discourses against the backdrop of an increasingly illiberal world order. As norms evolve through state rhetoric in discourses and diplomatic practice, I analyze speeches, foreign policy strategy papers, and interviews with diplomats. This helps to understand how Denmark maneuvers politicized debates, such as those around the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. While small states are often deemed successful when they are consistent in their principled support of rules and norms, and when engaging in (ad-hoc) coalitions, this case study reflects on their ability to still pursue those strategies. It furthermore provides an outlook on their future challenges at a time when UN cooperation around human protection is increasingly difficult.
