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This book offers a new research agenda for intelligence studies in contemporary times.

In contrast to Intelligence Studies (IS), whose aim has largely been to improve the performance of national security services and assist in policy making, this book takes the investigation of the new professionals and everyday practices of intelligence as the immediate point of departure. Starting from the observation that intelligence today is increasingly about counter-terrorism, crime control, surveillance, and other security-related issues, this book adopts a transdisciplinary approach for studying the shifting logics of intelligence, how it has come to involve an expanding number of empirical sites, such as the police, local community, prison and the Internet, as well as a corresponding multiplicity of new actors in these domains. Shifting the focus away from traditional spies and Anglo-American intelligence services, this book addresses the transformations of contemporary intelligence through empirically detailed and theoretically innovative analyses, making a key contribution to existing scholarship.

This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, critical security studies, foreign policy, and International Relations.

Contemporary research on so-called Nordic branding has provided crucial insights into the social power of states and how various actors use and circulate ‘progressive’ nation brand tropes for political and commercial goals. Hitherto, the literature on Nordic branding has focused on a wide range of substantive issues, among other things, human rights, gender equality, social welfare and foreign aid, but considerably less attention has been paid to the topic of security. The present article adds to a small but established literature on how the security sphere is increasingly entangled with nation branding. In the Nordic region, we argue, the latter is particularly evident in the case of Sweden – one of the world’s largest per-capita arms exporters in the post-Cold War era but also a country known and often revered for its peaceful and progressive image. Focusing on the case of Sweden, the article contributes to knowledge of how defence industry-related actors (both public and private) draw on and frame nation branding tropes to sell and legitimise their products and services to both insiders (domestic constituents) and outsiders (the global security market).

This chapter considers the role of Russia’s ground-based contingent in the Russian military operation in Syria. The chapter, which covers the period 2015-2021, identifies six key strategic functions of the contingent, which is small in size but diverse in its composition. The functions reach beyond base security and support to the aerial forces that have spearheaded Russia’s operation, and include also the ability to carry out high-value tasks, provide capacity building to allied forces, facilitate ally coordination, and support escalation management. Importantly, Russia’s ability to operate forces with different degrees of deniability/officiality has lent it greater flexibility in managing allies, adversaries, and third-party actors.

In the 1970s, communities of the Kalinga sub-ethnic group in the Cordillera Mountains in northern Philippines successfully halted the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams along their main waterway, the Chico River, which would have caused their displacement. Based on interviews and archival research, the article examines the role played by a Kalinga political institution known as the bodong or peace pact in the Kalingas’ mobilisation against the dam project, using an analytical framework drawn from Charles Tilly's and Sidney Tarrow's work on contentious politics.

The article examines Russian scholarly discussion of nonmilitary warfare with reference to securitization theory. Focusing on three main concepts of nonmilitary warfare that have featured in the Russian scholarly military and security debate in recent years – information war, color revolutions and hybrid war – it shows that Russian scholarly discussion of nonmilitary warfare, as it has evolved over time, has cast a widening range of phenomena as potential security threats, implying the need for an expanded state response to meet these threats. The broadened Russian understanding of security has some parallels in Western security discussions. However, a crucial distinction is that the Russian discussion has remained wedded to strong statist notion of security and a preponderant Western enemy image.

This chapter examines the concept of mission command in light of ongoing trends in the evolution of warfare and military operations. The chapter starts with a discussion of mission command respectively in terms of a culture or command philosophy, and as a set of methods and practices of command. It then discusses the role and future utility of mission command in light of developments in three broad areas of importance to the evolution of military command. These are, first, general trends in the current and future operational environment with implications for the command of land operations, with a focus on the US Army’s concept of multi-domain operations. The second area is the ever-increasing demands for information management, and the daunting challenge it poses for any military command system. The third is developments in information technology over the last decades and the more recent shift toward artificial intelligence and automation.

International politics have become ever more volatile over the last decade, increasing the risk of large-scale military violence. Yet the precise character of future war will depend on a range of factors that relate to adversaries, allies, technology, geographical scope and multiple domains of warfighting. Few would question that land forces will be important also in the foreseeable future. However, given that the battlefield is in a state of transformation, so is the mission, purpose and utilization of land forces. Indeed, the future conduct of land warfare is subjected to serious and important questions in the face of large and complex challenges and security threats.

Advanced Land Warfare explores the evolving role of land forces, paying particular attention to the changes that have taken place in the art of commanding and executing combat, as well as the role of rapid technological innovation and information dissemination in shaping warfare. The book provides insights into key contemporary developments in land warfare and presents case studies on land tactics and operations in different national contexts, drawing on the best of theory, practice, and professional experience and featuring chapters written by leading international scholars and practitioners. Relating to the realities of the modern battlefield, the book addresses a number of critical questions about land tactics and operations, combining a conceptual basis with empirical examples of tactical thinking and practice and emphasising the importance of understanding the perspectives of various national armies, in order to provide a current understanding of the central issues of land warfare.

This chapter is structured as follows. First, the development of land warfareis briefly outlined, before key current and future challenges in the operational environment are examined. In the following section, the future character ofwar and the transformation of the battlefield is addressed. Thereafter, the structure of the volume and its chapters are outlined.

This article interrogates how the shift to a more robust mandate in Bosnia was made intelligible to the Swedish TV audience. The turn to peace-enforcement and NATO command in December 1995 represented a clear break with Swedish tradition and identity, and essentially signified a turning point in Sweden’s policy on the use of force. The analysis reveals how four characterizations of the Swedish UN soldiers served to make sense of recent events and ultimately paved way for future policy changes; throughout the six-month period under scrutiny, the depictions, very broadly, moved from weak soldiers and failed warriors, to honourable peacekeepers and unique combat soldiers. The Swedish peacekeeper figure is thus reconstructed, essentially accommodating an increased involvement in activities of peace-enforcement and war-like operations.

This chapter addresses the daunting challenge of urban warfare on tomorrow’s battlefield. In the first section, it provides a brief background of the urban warfare phenomenon. It approaches urban warfare by asking why the field has now emerged after a long period of relative neglect. Thereafter, the chapter outlines the different challenges to and expectations for urban operations on the battlefields of today and tomorrow. A number of key challenges are addressed: the impact of rapid urbanization, multi-domain operations, grey zone problems, the impact of technology on urban operations, and the urbanization of insurgency. Observing that urban areas will be an increasingly important arena for future land warfare, the chapter argues that urban operations and warfare should acquire a greater significance in our understanding of the operational environment. With large cities being the centre of gravity for political and economic interaction and although urban warfare is a nightmare that one reasonably hopes to avoid, it is not always possible to choose the battlefield and it is therefore better to prepare thoroughly for this eventuality. Finally, to help with the preparation, the chapter presents eleven lessons about urban warfare.

Praktiska pedagogiska redskap är en central del i utbildningen av officerare. Detta är ett område där det finns en lång tradition, både på Försvarshögskolan och inom Försvarsmakten mer generellt. Detta är också ett område där Försvarshögskolan alltid har varit framträdande, där metoder som applikatoriska exempel (applex), krigsspel, fältövningar, stabstjänstövningar och taktiska problem under lång tid har använts. Denna handbok riktar in sig på ett av dessa pedagogiska redskap: fältövningar. 

Handboken är disponerad som följer: först ges en historisk bakgrund till fältövningar och vi diskuterar vad en fältövning är och vilka typer som finns. Därefter flyttar fokus till tankar kring att planera och genomföra en fältövning. Här diskuterar vi planeringsfasen, lärdomar kring nyttan av att rekognosera inför genomförande och tankar kring fältövningens pedagogiska genomförande. Handboken avslutas med en diskussion kring hur man bör tänka när man planerar och genomför en fältövning, både praktiskt och pedagogiskt. Här presenteras även en schematisk modell kring fältövningens pedagogiska dynamik för olika målgrupper baserat på deras förförståelse och olika fältövningars komplexitet.

The use of various practical pedagogical tools is an important part of officer training. This is also an area where there is a long tradition in the training of officer cadets and officers in staff colleges as well as in the Armed Forces more generally. This article focuses on staff rides aimed at teaching tactics and operational arts based on historical examples. This type of staff-rides aims to learn from history with a bearing on the present and the future.

The article is organized as follows: first, the article gives a short overview of the history of staff rides, followed by a discussion on different types of staff rides. Then the focus shifts to ways to planning and carrying out a staff-ride. This includes the planning phase, reconnaissance, and the different pedagogical tools that can be used and their implementation. The article concludes with a discussion of how to think when planning and carrying out a staff rides, both practically and pedagogically. The article here presented a schematic model of the pedagogical dynamics of the staff ride for different target groups based on their pre-understanding and the complexity of different field exercises.

International politics have become ever more volatile over the last decade, increasing the risk of large-scale military violence. Yet the precise character of future war will depend on a range of factors that relate to adversaries, allies, technology, geographical scope and multiple domains of warfighting. Few would question that land forces will be important also in the foreseeable future. However, given that the battlefield is in a state of transformation, so is the mission, purpose and utilization of land forces. Indeed, the future conduct of land warfare is subjected to serious and important questions in the face of large and complex challenges and security threats.

Advanced Land Warfare explores the evolving role of land forces, paying particular attention to the changes that have taken place in the art of commanding and executing combat, as well as the role of rapid technological innovation and information dissemination in shaping warfare. The book provides insights into key contemporary developments in land warfare and presents case studies on land tactics and operations in different national contexts, drawing on the best of theory, practice, and professional experience and featuring chapters written by leading international scholars and practitioners. Relating to the realities of the modern battlefield, the book addresses a number of critical questions about land tactics and operations, combining a conceptual basis with empirical examples of tactical thinking and practice and emphasising the importance of understanding the perspectives of various national armies, in order to provide a current understanding of the central issues of land warfare.

An open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence.

This chapter outlines the findings of the volume. The authors outline a framework for a versatile approach to land warfare. First, they establish a structure of the myriad elements and factors influencing land forces, presenting a continuum of land operations modelling the use of conventional capacity and kinetic effects at different levels of conflict intensity and the role of land forces visualizing the heterogeneity of possible conflict environments where land forces may be deployed. 

Thereafter, the chapter presents two schematic models; the first locates land forces in the broader operating environment by outlining how the strategic environment, conflict intensity, interoperability, and multi-domain operations are constitutive enablers and/or constraints to activities in the land domain. The second outlines how the capabilities of forces in the land domain need to be understood as a function of the interaction between own capabilities, the adversary, the human- and physical terrain, and the information environment. The multidimensional demands placed on land forces in contemporary and future operational environments necessitate a conscious multi-pronged approach to the development of land warfare capabilities, aimed at gaining a versatile edge on tomorrow’s battlefields. In turn, this concerns both the build-up and construction of capabilities, and the means by which they are deployed and utilized in future conflict. The chapter argues that the achievement of versatility should be a crucial aim of contemporary land forces. As outlined in the integrated versatility model, versatility builds on two interrelated and mutually reinforcing qualities in a military organization, adaptability and flexibility. Together, they compose the underlying preconditions for truly versatile land forces.

Security challenges arising from hybrid threats and hybrid warfare, HT&HW, are today high on security agenda not only in Sweden but across the globe. Despite the attention and the growing body of studies on the subject, there is a lack of research bringing attention to how these challenges can be addressed. This article contributes to such an approach by sharing the findings of a project that brings together practitioners and scholarly perspectives on this subject spanning the threats themselves as well as the tools and means to counter them. The article outlines the Western response to hybrid threats and hybrid warfare. It is argued that there is no single response to HT&HW, nor to building resilience. HT&HW need to be addressed through a comprehensive, all-inclusive approach. Finally, the article outlines how we address these challenges in practice.