Denmark, the small north European nation traditionally known as a haven of liberalism, is struggling to find a 21st century strategy to deal with substantial immigration from Muslim countries. The response of the Scandinavian people has been to elect an “un-Danish” leader to protect their Danishness.

In sharp contrast to the laid-back and sociable image the Scandinavians have of themselves, Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a loner and a tough prime minister. Despite this – or perhaps for this reason – he is thought by most of his compatriots to be the right man to defend the cohesiveness of a small and homogeneous nation faced with a large minority that defies the culture of its adopted homeland.