DK - The politicians and the leadership of the Armed Forces need couples therapy

Saithan

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The debate entry is an expression of the writer's own views.

DEBATE. Disagreement, differences of opinion and mudslinging do not only take place in kindergarten. The division in the Armed Forces has reached top level. Now is the time to seek professional help!​

ISLANDfinancial cuts have had major consequences for the operation of the Armed Forces and led to division in the entire organisation. The mudslinging has now reached top officers and top politicians in the Defense Conciliation Circle.

It began on Friday in Berlingske , who wrote; "The defense itself is looking for savings". The article referred to the soon-to-be-familiar additional planning that the Armed Forces have found appropriate to carry out over the past few years. Furthermore, it was stated that "somewhere they have to learn it the hard way".

A mudslide was quickly thrown back from a top officer, who replied that "politicians are obviously willing to gamble with the future of the Armed Forces and thus also our security, so that they can set an example":

"I think it's rare that we see them out with us, and certainly not at practice". The names of those in question are unimportant, because undoubtedly several people could have said the same thing.

The conflicts have reached the top level​

We are in a precarious security policy situation and are about to take the first baby steps into a gigantic rearmament. It is now that we all have to set sail and pull together - but instead there is conflict and mistrust. The division is great, and the psychological working environment is in no way good, as I have previously described - now also at the top level.

It is not at all abnormal to have conflict, accusations and pointing fingers at each other. Perhaps you would prefer to think that it only occurs in the kindergarten sandbox, but wherever people are gathered, we see it: in companies, university governing bodies, in the presidium of the High Court, at home in the family and everywhere. It is in no way about someone being "too smart" to avoid conflicts.

As a psychologist, it happens that I meet people in couples therapy where one or perhaps both are very good at blaming and blaming the other. The level of conflict is high and the whole family project suffers from it. It could be that one of them has "come to" spending too much money on Lotto - perhaps in an unhelpful attempt to straighten out the family finances.

In larger organisations, however, there is more at stake than the dishes not being done for days and unfriendliness, because the organization can be caught in a lack of overview and paralysis of action, where the individual loses motivation and spirit.

We are "only" human and with the instincts that we have had since the Stone Age. But neither in the kindergarten nor at Christiansborg is the solution to knock each other into position and find out who is the strongest. Although it is actually the project that we often have underway - if we otherwise dare/can look inward and admit it.

Talk together!​

In couples therapy, it can sometimes turn out that one person is "right". Unfortunately, it doesn't change very much, because the division is still there. It is also not enough to pay back the money in the food account. In order to move forward, one must find out how to meet at eye level, enter into the difficult conversation and reconciliation and re-establish the important VI feeling. If you are primarily good at handling Excel sheets, then it is actually a rather difficult exercise, but necessary to avoid divorce. Therefore, some seek professional assistance.

Divorce is just not an option for the Armed Forces and the politicians. Yes, the bottom line is important, but it is also important to stand with a common front in the face of a completely new threat scenario and to have a trusting cooperation – you actually owe it to the Denmark family!

Yes, top politicians and top officers can get into conflict just like everyone else. Here in 2024, however, it has had major consequences for the efficiency of the Armed Forces and the well-being of the personnel. So face it, conflict and division is unfortunately a theme that has come to occupy a lot of space. Too much. And then pick up the phone and call someone you can trust, who is good at helping with exactly this.

Keld Molin is a psychologist in private practice, a reserve officer in the Emergency Management Agency and a board member of the Main Organization of Personnel of the Reserve in Denmark (HPRD).

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Denmark is one of the countries that are quite open about these affairs and I think it's good and bad. Considering how small the country is, I would have expected more responsible approach to the armed forces. Especially considering how much we're spending on it.

I feel a very "Laissez faire" kinda approach and too much laid back until things go wrong. I believe it is the politicians fault. and their approach to themselves and their own affairs is also what is spreading to other state institutions.

This isn't restricted to Denmark only we can see similar approaches in other countries.

Rule of Law, Governance has really taken a hit.
 

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