Postcolonising activist defence policies of the Nordic countries: The case of Mali

Much attention has been drawn to the so-called foreign policy activism of the Nordic countries after the end of the Cold War. While different approaches are applied, a postcolonial study of this issue is lacking in the academia. All Nordic countries were parts of European imperialism and colonialism: either as colonisers or as the colonised. This fact cannot but influence how modern Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden articulate their foreign and defence policies in different regions, especially in the Global South. West Africa remains a highly conflictual domain so the abundance of different actors being involved in its processes is no surprise for any experienced observer. Mali is of particular interest in this regard, since it has been an intersection of different groups, countries, interests, identities, powers, and worldviews. An analysis of the Nordic countries' presence in Mali allows us to trace the distinguishing features of their postcolonial defence policies as well as to identify how and why these countries construct their identities abroad. Having conducted a postcolonial discourse analysis of official and strategic documents of the five countries, the authors arrived upon the following conclusions. Firstly, all Nordic countries identify themselves with "Europe" and move away from it in the Global South at the same time. This is largely due to the desire to simultaneously be in solidarity with "good" Europe and distance oneself from "bad" Europe. Secondly, the military component of postcolonial activism either complements the non-military component (Denmark and partly Norway), or overlaps it (Sweden and partly Finland), or is avoided (in the case of Iceland). Thirdly, contrary to the case of non-military activism, in defence policies there is a clear rivalry between Denmark and Sweden for leadership among the Nordics whereas Norway tries to keep the distance from this rivalry while Finland and Iceland cannot really find themselves in this sphere and re-focus on other aspects of the conflict. To sum up, activist defence policies of the Nordic countries in Mali (and in broader contexts of the Global South) function according to the central mechanisms of the Third Space in H. Bhabha's terms where hybrid identities have to define themselves vis-a-vis each other but at the same time defend their authenticity and individuality. Therefore, there is a constant communication between the former colonisers and the colonised under modern circumstances but with old ways of thinking. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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