Search

Mikkel Runge Olesen
Illustration © Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk
+45 2851 0502
28510502
mro@diis.dk
CV
Download press photo
Mikkel Runge Olesen

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Senior Researcher
Foreign policy and diplomacy
Bio

Primary research areas

Mikkel Runge Olesen’s research interests include NATO and transatlantic relations, The Arctic, Baltic Sea security, Danish foreign policy as well as recent Danish diplomatic history. His theoretical interests include realism, political psychology and prospect theory. 

Current research

Mikkel Runge Olesen is project leader on the report “Nye sikkerhedspolitiske dynamikker i Arktis: Muligheder og udfordringer for Kongeriget Danmark” (New security dynamics in the Arctic: Possibilities and challenges for the Kingdom of Denmark) which DIIS has conducted on commission from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mikkel Runge Olesen has previously been a part of inquiries/external reports on alleged CIA-flights over Greenland (2012), the Danish decisions to go to war in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq (2017-2019) and the DIIS report on the Danish defense opt-out (2019 (Danish version) & 2020 (English version)). 

Featured publications
Nye sikkerhedspolitiske dynamikker i Arktis - muligheder og udfordringer for Kongeriget Danmark
Billede/illustration af Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright-licens
DIIS Book
2020
Nye sikkerhedspolitiske dynamikker i Arktis
Muligheder og udfordringer for Kongeriget Danmark
Mikkel Runge Olesen, Flemming Splidsboel Hansen, Luke Patey, Steen Kjærgaard, Camilla Tenna Nørup Sørensen, Rasmus Leander Nielsen, Marc Jacobsen & Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke
Download (pdf, 5.6 MB)
none
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license
DIIS Book
2020
European defence cooperation and the Danish opt-out
Report on the developments in the EU and Europe in the fields of security and defence policy and their implications for Denmark
Christine Nissen, Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke, Jakob Linnet Schmidt, Mikkel Runge Olesen, Hans Mouritzen, Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, Rasmus Brun Pedersen, Graham Butler & Louise Riis Andersen
Download (pdf, 3.9 MB)
Intensifying great power politics in the Arctic
DIIS Report
2019
Intensifying great power politics in the Arctic - point of consideration by the Kingdom of Denmark
From an analysis of assesments and strategies in Finland, Norway and Iceland
Mikkel Runge Olesen & Camilla Tenna Nørup Sørensen
Download (pdf, 3.2 MB)
Pexels. Jens Mahnke.
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license
Journal Article
2018
To Balance or Not to Balance
How Denmark Almost Stayed out of NATO, 1948–1949
Mikkel Runge Olesen
Journal of Cold War Studies, 20
Read the article here (paywall)

Expertise

Region
Arctic United States Denmark Greenland
Topic

Research and activites

  • Bilateral meeting between NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Vice President Joe Biden
    Photo/illustration by Nato
    Webinar

    NATO and transatlantic relations

    From Trump to Biden
  • puzzle, china, denmark, finland
    Photo/illustration by Cecilie Castor
    Webinar

    Fraught with tensions

    How relations between China and the Nordic-Baltic countries were disrupted
  • 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.
  • Helicopter
    Photo/illustration by The helicopter of ESPS Méndez Núnez lands with the NATO counter-piracy Force Commander on board - Feb 13, European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0 copyright license
    Webinar

    Portugal, the EU and the future of Wider European Security

    A (virtual) conversation with the Minister of National Defense of Portugal João Gomes Cravinho
  • øvelse i Østersøen og det er en Baltisk minestryger, der bliver trukket af et dansk fartøj
    Photo/illustration by Brian Djurslev, Forsvarsgalleriet
    Webinar

    Baltic Sea Region security at a crossroad: Nordic and Baltic perspectives

    Online via Zoom
    This webinar focuses on the recent geopolitical transitions, foreign policy and energy infrastructure investments in the Baltic Sea region
  • Livestreaming

    European Defence Cooperation: geopolitical ambitions vs. reality?

    DIIS Auditorium
    We have gathered some of the leading academic experts in the field as well as policy practitioners to discuss European defence cooperation in the light of the current state of affairs.
  • Five ships line up alongside each other during BALTOPS 2020
    Photo/illustration by Exercise BALTOPS 2020, NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 copyright license
    Webinar

    Germany's approach to Baltic Sea security: Stepping up, but not enough?

    Online via Zoom
    Germany is increasingly taking responsibility for security in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), but the changing international context is forcing Germany to do even more. What is necessary from Germany to help secure the BSR? And how can Germany take its security and defence policy into the future?
  • Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
    Photo/illustration by Sebastian Wilke/Bundeswehr
    Webinar

    Webinar: The German Defence Minister on Europe and Transatlantic Relations

    Online via Zoom
    Join us for this conversation with the German Minister of Defence, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, on Germany’s Security and Defence Policy in times of upheaval.
  • EU flag
    Photo/illustration by engin akyurt

    EU report in 2019

    Report on developments in the EU in the field of security and defence policy cooperation and its significance for Denmark

    In November 2018, DIIS was asked by the Danish government to prepare an...