The cartoon illustrates the relationship between Sweden and Denmark, attempting to display the similarities of each nation.

The countries having a historic past, eleven Dano-Swedish wars between 1521-1814. This cartoon does not have an apparent setting, as it shows two men who appear to be removing the Danish flag to reveal a Swedish flag laying beneath. The cartoon itself seems rather bare, but when examining it after reading the article that accompanied it, the cartoon is ingenious. Each of the flags of the two nations being examined, Sweden and Denmark, are shown in the cartoon. A short look at the flags of Sweden and Denmark reveal that they are vastly similar, both featuring the Nordic cross but with different colours. The illustrator chose to have the crosses of each flag line up, so the viewer would understand that beneath the Danish flag, the Swedish flag continues. Also, upon close examination, towards the sides of the lifted up portion on the Danish flag, it is possible to see blue from the Swedish flag. The issues being portrayed is the similarity of Sweden and Denmark. This issue is political, social, and economical. As it was stated before, both are Nordic countries located on and near the Scandinavian peninsula, so it is evident that each country would have a lot in common. Both countries are facing the same severe problems in integration of foreigners. Unlike many countries found around the world, Canada, the United States, and England for example, have a very heterogeneous cultures, whereas culture in Sweden are homogeneous (Maartje, 2013). The hostility against immigrants in Sweden can also have a negative economic impact (Dahlerup, 2013). The bigotry could put Sweden in a tough spot trading with other nations, possibly having to spend more for imports, and have less expensive exports. Also, Sweden and Denmark have similar exports, so each country will be trying to edge other out as the top exporter of their product. Finally, the issue between Sweden and Denmark can also be a social issue. The two countries at times show hostility towards one another, regardless that each

country is home to immigrants of the other, around 21,000 Swedish people live in Denmark (Statistics Denmark, 2013) and around 42,000 Danish people live in Sweden (Statistics Sweden, 2013). A large rivalry is present between the football teams of each nation. This cartoon expresses the issues between Sweden and Denmark as neutral. The cartoons goal is to show the similarities of the two countries which it achieves. However, the cartoon shows that the Danish flag is on top of the Swedish, meaning that Denmark is almost a clone of Sweden. While this can be at first determined to be bias, the credentials of both the illustrator and the articles author can show infer no bias. Sergey Tyunin, the cartoonist is Russian born and Drude Dahlerup is a Danish-born political scientist that resides in Stockholm, Sweden. The cartoon is effective at showing off what it was meant to do, attempting to outline the similarities between Sweden and Denmark, and urges the whomever sees it to look deeper into Dano-Swedish relations and try and learn more about it. An appropriate title for this cartoon would be Scandinavian Siblings due to both countries being in the geographical location Scandinavia, and the similar relationship between the two nations are what can be found between siblings, one looking up to the other and striving to be similar. Also, another title could be Denmark and Sweden, More Similar Than Their Flags, obviously foreshadowing what the entire idea of the cartoon covers. Finally, a less effective cartoon title, Sverige i Danmark the Swedish translation of Sweden underneath Denmark which is what is first seen in a short exposure to the cartoon.

Works Cited Dahlerup, D. (2013). Denmark-Sweden: Identical Twins or Cain and Abel. Dagens Nyheter.

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/4249561-identical-twins-or-cain-and-abel. February 26, 2013. Maartje, S. (2013). The Problem with Swedish Integration. NRC Handelsblad. http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/4049791-problem-swedish-integration. February 26, 2013. N.A. (2013). Immigrants and Their Descendants. Statistics Denmark. http://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/indvandrere-og-efterkommere/indvandrere-ogefterkommere.aspx. February 27, 2013 Sundell, A. (2013). Befolkning efter Fdelseland och Ursprungsland. Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/Statistik/BE/BE0101/2010A01L/Utrikes_fodda.pdf. February 27, 2013.