On every conceivable count, Denmark's Ombudsman (Om) instit has proved itself to be an unqualified success. In large measure, this has been due to the superb & sagacious performance of the 1st Om, who is still the incumbent of the office, & who has succeeded in establishing a thoroughly wholesome & sympathetic climate for both the office & the instit. He has charted a conservative course that has made the Om entirely palatable to all official & lay segments of Denmark's homogeneous community, including its perceptive & influential press. The Danish Om's authority extends to every facet of public life except the judiciary (& certain aspects of municipal gov). To date, every complaint lodged with the Om not only has been adjudicated, but has been adjudicated promptly, courteously, & efficaciously. Approximately 90% of all cases are dismissed after due consideration, with the remaining 10% treated on their merits. The specific recommendations of the Om have been accepted in each case to date-a tribute to Stephan Hurwitz & his small, dedicated staff. The Danish instit of the Om has thus, deservedly, become a model for a host of related schemes throughout the free world. HA.
Denmark is a small and extremely vulnerable state. It is situated at the intersection of the bipolar global system and the multipolar West European subsystem. Danish security policy has been formulated along the following three principal lines: (1) Cooperation, i.e. practical cooperative relations between states (furthering mutual understanding, confidence, and peace); (2) detente and negotiation; and (3) defense, i.e. the cooperation between the national Danish defense and the Western defense. This article discusses the effects on Denmark of general international trends in the 1970s and 1980s. Three forms of security policy are dealt with: (1) the official declaratory policy; (2) the military policy and the military apparatus; and (3) planning and analyzing activities. Although Danish security policy is characterized by continuity, certain recent changes are identified. Another basic feature of Danish security policy is the remarkably stable political consensus ever since the approval of the Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Recent years, however, have witnessed increased politicization of security matters.
Denmark is a small and extremely vulnerable state. It is situated at the intersection of the bipolar global system and the multipolar West European subsystem. Danish security policy has been formulated along the following three principal lines: (1) Cooperation, i.e. practical cooperative relations between states (furthering mutual understanding, confidence, and peace); (2) detente and negotiation; and (3) defense, i.e. the cooperation between the national Danish defense and the Western defense. This article discusses the effects on Denmark of general international trends in the 1970s and 1980s. Three forms of security policy are dealt with: (1) the official declaratory policy; (2) the military policy and the military apparatus; and (3) planning and analyzing activities. Although Danish security policy is characterized by continuity, certain recent changes are identified. Another basic feature of Danish security policy is the remarkably stable political consensus ever since the approval of the Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Recent years, however, have witnessed increased politicization of security matters.
On every conceivable count, Denmark's Ombudsman institution has proved itself to be an unqualified success. In large measure, this has been due to the superb and sagacious performance of the first Ombudsman, who is still the incumbent of the office, and who has succeeded in establishing a thoroughly wholesome and sympathetic climate for both the office and the institution. He has charted a conservative course that has made the Ombudsman entirely palatable to all official and lay segments of Denmark's homogeneous community, including its perceptive and influential press. The Danish Ombudsman's authority extends to every facet of public life except the judiciary (and certain aspects of municipal government). To date, every complaint lodged with the Ombudsman not only has been adjudicated, but has been adjudicated promptly, courteously, and efficaciously. Approximately 90 per cent of all cases are dismissed after due consideration, with the remaining 10 per cent treated on their merits. The specific recommendations of the Ombudsman have been accepted in each case to date—a tribute to Professor Stephan Hurwitz and his small, dedicated staff. The Danish institution of the Ombudsman has thus, deservedly, become a model for a host of related schemes throughout the free world.
The Danish Meteorological Institute celebrated its centennial on 1 April this year and on the same date the Ionosphere Laboratory, a division under the Meteorological Institute, observed its tenth anniversary, although its history goes back almost twenty years. The idea of establishing an Ionosphere Laboratory was first conceived by the active and foresighted Professor P. O. Pedersen . During the Second Polar Year 1932-33 Pedersen wanted to build an ionosphere station in Godhavn . but it was not until 1951 that his wish was fulfilled by his assistant and later successor, Professor Jørgen Rybner. The year before, the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Bureau of Standards had established an ionosphere station at the American military base in southern Greenland and in 1957 when the U.S. Armed Forces left what is now called Narssarssuaq, Professor Rybner also undertook the responsibility for this station in his capacity as the Chairman of the Danish National Committee of the International Radio Union (URSI). It was realized that operation of the Greenlandic stations would only be feasible if there were an active group in Copenhagen to analyze the ionosphere data obtained and to train the station personnel before leaving for Greenland. To fill this need Professor Rybner founded a laboratory at the Technical University based upon support from local URSI funds. At the same time rapid technological development made possible measurements in the ionosphere with instruments launched with rockets or from satellites. Using the resources at the new laboratory, Professor Rybner in 1961 accepted a Norwegian proposal for a joint campaign with rocket launchings from Andøya in Lofoten, Norway, in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This project formed the basis later for a Greenlandic ionosphere rocket program. . it was deemed desirable to change the laboratory supported under the Danish URSI Committee to an official laboratory under the Technical University of Denmark. . on 1 April 1962 the Ionosphere Laboratory was established at the University . Recordings of naturally generated electromagnetic noise at very low frequencies (VLF recordings), and studies had been made at Godhavn and Narssarssuaq for some years when , in 1964, a "VLF-station" was established at the Danish site Thule, approximately 80 miles north of Thule Air Base [AB]. Financial support was given by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and locally by the U.S. Army Research Support Group (USARSG). When in 1966 the American scientific camp situated approximately 16 miles east of Thule AB was closed down, the U.S. ionosphere station there was transferred to the Danish station at Thule; an ionosonde was made available from the U.S.A. and a building of 150 sq. m. was moved from the camp to the station by helicopter! The U.S. National Science Foundation supported the operation for the following three years until the Danish Government took over financial responsibility. Between 1966 and 1968 the Ionosphere Laboratory was reorganized involving among other administrative changes the establishment of an independent Danish Space Research Institute for work with balloons, rockets and satellites. Today, ten years after it was officially established with a staff of four, the Laboratory with a staff of twenty, is continuing its ionospheric research based largely upon the operations of the Greenlandic observatories at Godhavn, Narssarssuaq, and Thule. Although it is administered and financed by the Danish Meteorological Institute, it is still located at the Technical University north of Copenhagen, and maintains close cooperation with other laboratories at the University in teaching and providing guidance to graduate students. [Included are summaries of research under the following headings: ground-based measurements, vertical soundings, cosmic noise absorption measurements, whistler and VLF emissions, auroral electrojet activity, the polar ionization, geomagnetic micropulsation studies, the polar slant E condition, stratospheric balloon measurements, high altitude meteorological observations, ionospheric rocket experiment, and electric field measurements].
