As the Danish cartoon furore seems to be growing daily, I had an interesting exchange with a leading Danish executive. He believes that “100 years of brand building” are being destroyed because of the controversy.

Now, he’s far closer to what matters to Denmark than I could ever be. But I’m puzzled by his viewpoint. The damage to Denmark in the Islamic world is certainly there, but how much is Denmark’s “brand” truly damaged? In my friend’s view, Denmark has consistently built an image of modernity, friendliness, tolerance, moderation. In my view, the consistent stance that freedom of the press includes the freedom to publish stupid things is entirely consistent with the Danish “brand”.

My friend went on to say that this incident would be as damaging for Denmark as Joerg Haider was for Austria. As another friend pointed out yesterday, I think more than a few people recall that Austria produced a rather infamous political leader in the aftermath of WWI.