Still leaders but less exceptional: The Nordic states and development assistance

The Nordic countries have been described as generous front-runners in their development assistance, making observers suggest the existence of a ‘Nordic Model’. They have been claimed to play a leadership role in a European and global context. Recently, however, this characterisation has been challenged due to changes in Nordic policies and in the external environment. We investigate the development policies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – and their changing roles and priorities from the start of Nordic aid programmes, with a focus on developments and trends in the last 15 years and ask if we have come to the end of the Nordic Model. We identify three key changes in their policies: (1) an increased emphasis on security and migration, (2) the traditional focus on poverty reductions is increasingly competing both with other value-related objectives and with self-interested goals and (3) an increased emphasis on the role of the private sector and trade as instruments for development. We argue that perceptions of a Nordic leadership role still exist, despite these challenges, although in a diluted and more complex shape. The Nordic Model is not abandoned but has been eroded by external and internal forces.