Securing Europe through Surveillance: Allied Governance and Information Control in Western Europe
Name of applicant
Jacob Vrist Nielsen
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution
Kings College London
Amount
DKK 1,804,792
Year
2025
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
This project investigates how the first American-led transnational surveillance network emerged in postwar Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands (1945–1948). It examines Allied practices of information control, suppression of misinformation, and cross-border security coordination, as well as crimes and misconduct committed by Allied personnel protected by legal immunity.
Why?
Understanding how mass surveillance, misinformation, and military misconduct became embedded in Europe's postwar order helps explain today's challenges around trust, democracy, and US-led security policies. This project provides crucial historical insight into the overlooked consequences of American military influence on European societies and institutions.
How?
The project compares previously unexplored archival sources from Britain, the US, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands. Through qualitative analysis of official documents, secret intelligence reports, and policy papers, it uncovers how Allied forces implemented surveillance, information control, and governance, reshaping Europe and establishing a new US-based security order in Western Europe.