Modern Military Research Infinity Journal Special Edition
Modern Military Research Infinity Journal Special Edition
Modern Military Research Infinity Journal Special Edition
Infinity Journal
International Relations in
Professional Military Education
Featuring Articles By
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Maarten Rothman
Toms Rostoks
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Carsten F. Roennfeldt
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An Jacobs
Infinity Journal
ISSN 2312-5888
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William F. Owen
Editor, Infinity Journal
January 2016
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Contents
Introduction:
Developing Strategic-Minded Junior Officers
Scott A. Silverstone
United States Military Academy at West Point
10
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Maarten Rothman
Netherlands Defense Academy
The paper focuses on the challenge of getting practice-oriented cadets interested in learning IR theories which they perceive as
abstract and remote from their foreseeable (medium-term) professional practice. It considers teaching IR from the perspective of the
theory-practice divide. At the Netherlands Defense Academy we have designed two international security studies courses specifically to
bridge the gap. At the heart of the first is a case study of a contemporary conflict. The second course zooms out to consider the strategic
environment and defense policy. Both are structured around student-driven tutorial sessions, which puts cadets in charge of applying
theory to their own future practice.
22
Toms Rostoks
National Defence Academy of Latvia
The article asks whether cadets at National Defence Academy of Latvia should be more exposed to international relations courses. This
far, international relations have been a minor component in cadets education. The article concludes that although there is a place for
a stronger international relations element, professional military education in Latvia is still in the process formation.
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Carsten F. Roennfeldt
Norwegian Military Academy
By focusing on the way cadets learn international relations this article unfolds how professional military education at the Norwegian
Military Academy has changed during the past decades. In an effort to enhance junior army officers competence as strategic actors
in rapidly evolving security contexts the Academy has increasingly emphasised learning over teaching and interdisciplinary over single
disciplinary subjects.
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An Jacobs
Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst
Unlike most European and North American Military Academies, The Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst in the UK offers a one-year
commissioning course for officer cadets where blended learning is key. The article provides a concise insight into how IR-related
academic subjects are taught at Sandhurst and emphasises the uniqueness of integrating academic subjects and military training.
It assesses the apparent trend towards an enhanced appreciation and emphasis on the academic aspect of officer education and
concludes with key current challenges and opportunities.
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Introduction:
Developing Strategic-Minded Junior
Officers
Scott A. Silverstone
To cite this Article: Silverstone, Scott A.,Introduction: Developing Strategic-Minded Junior Officers, Infinity Journal Special Edition,
International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 6-8.
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Scott A. Silverstone
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Scott A. Silverstone
References
[i] What is Strategy, IJ Briefs, Infinity Journal (April 3, 2013), available at https://www.infinityjournal.com/article/91/What_is_Strategy/
[ii] For an example from the United States, see Kevin P. Kelly and Joan Johnson-Freese, Getting to the Goal in Professional Military Education, Orbis vol. 58, no. 1
(Winter 2014): pp. 119-131; and Joan Johnson-Freese, Educating Americas Military (New York: Routledge, 2013).
[iii] For recent commentary on NATOs education initiatives, see Julian Lindley-French, Connected Forces Through Connected Education: Harnessing NATOs and
Partner Nations Strategic Educational Resources, Eisenhower Paper No. 2 (Rome: NATO Defense College), July 2014. NATO offers a significant library of reports and
articles on education and training, available at http://www.natolibguides.info/training.
[iv] The Brahimi report, released in 2000, concluded that out of 111 wars between 1988 and 2000, only 7 were conventional wars between states. Available at
http://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/brahimi_report.shtml.
[v] Colin S. Gray, Strategy, Politics, and the Stream of Time, Infinity Journal vol. 3, no. 4 (winter 2014), pp. 4-9.
[vi] General Charles C. Krulak, The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War, Marine Magazine (January 1999). Available at http://www.au.af.mil/
au/awc/awcgate/usmc/strategic_corporal.htm.
[vii] Bringing the Fundamentals of Strategy to IR, IJ Briefs, available at https://www.infinityjournal.com/article/76/Bringing_the_Fundamentals_of_Strategy_to_IR/
[viii] Colin Gray, The Strategy Bridge: Theory for Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
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Americanspirit | Dreamstime.com Cadets In Formation, West Point Military Academy, West Point, New York Photo
To cite this Article: Silverstone, Scott A., and Ramsey, Renee, Who Are We Teaching - Future Second Lieutenants or Strategic
Leaders? Education for Strategic Thinking and Action, Infinity Journal Special Edition, International Relations in Professional
Military Education, winter 2016, pages 10-15.
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In June 2013, the U.S. Army published the first formal leader
development strategy produced by senior leaders (the Army
Leader Development Strategy 2013, or ALDS), which outlines
the vision for leader development from pre-commission
through general officer ranks. Among its guiding principles
is the assertion that the security challenges faced by the
Army make it imperative that all leaders possess the ability
to understand the security environment in which they
operate and the contributions of all elements of national
power.[ii] The Army views leader development as a
continuous, integrated, and progressive process that involves
three domains: the institutional domain that provides formal
training and education; the operational domain, in which, as
Julius Caesar might assert, experience is the teacher of all
things[iii] ; and the self-development domain of personal
study and reflection.[iv] It is important to note that the Army
emphasizes operational experience as the source of the bulk
of officer development. There are practical limitations on how
much time its leaders can spend on formal education. As a
result, the goal of the ALDS Program is to provide leaders with
operational experiences that prepare them for their current
responsibilities as well as future assignments. Junior leaders
gain experience and technical competence, mid-grade
leaders further develop their ability to direct organizations at
the operational level, and senior leaders contribute to the
development and implementation of national strategy.[v]
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References
[i] H.R. McMaster,Thinking Clearly about War and the Future of Warfare The US Army Operating Concept, Military Balance Blog (October 23, 2014), available at:
http://www.iiss.org/en/militarybalanceblog/blogsections/2014-3bea/october-831b/thinking-clearly-about-war-and-the-future-of-warfare-6183.
[ii] Army Leader Development Strategy, US Army Combined Arms Center, June 2013, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., http://usacac.army.mil/sites/
default/files/documents/cal/ALDS5June%202013Record.pdf
[iii] Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili.
[iv] Army Training and Leader Development, Army Regulation 350-1, August 2014, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C. http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/
r350_1.pdf
[v] Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management, Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3, December 2014, Department of the Army,
Washington, D.C. http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/p600_3.pdf
[vi] Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management, Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3, December 2014, Department of the Army,
Washington, D.C. http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/p600_3.pdf
[vii] The Army offers significant and substantive strategic education to a small cohort of officers in the strategist functional area (FA 59) beginning at mid-grade.
Those courses are hosted at the Army War College and the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth.
[viii] Army Leadership, Army Doctrine Reference Publication 6-22, August 2012, Department of the Army, http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/
adrp6_22c1.pdf
[ix] What is Strategy, IJ Briefs, Infinity Journal (April 3, 2013), available at https://www.infinityjournal.com/article/91/What_is_Strategy/
[x] Colin S. Gray, The Strategy Bridge: Theory for Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010).
[xi] McMaster, Thinking Clearly about War and the Future of Warfare.
[xii] US Army Operating Concept: Winning in a Complex World, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Pamphlet 525-3-1 9 (31 October 2014), p. 8-9.
[xiii] Ibid., pp. 21-22.
[xiv] U.S. Army Mission Command Strategy FY 13-19 (June 2013), i. Available at http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/downloads/312724.pdf .
[xv] Army Doctrine Publication 6-0, Mission Command (May 2012), 1. Available at http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/adp6_0.pdf
[xvi] U.S. Army Mission Command Strategy, 4. Emphasis added. This is in line with how ADRP 6-22 defines the strategic art: the skillful formulation, coordination,
and application of ends, ways, and means to promote and defend the national interest. While mastery of the strategic art is something we cannot expect from
younger officers, it is clear that junior leaders must engage in the strategic art if the Armys Mission Command concept is to work.
[xvii] In fact, a foundational document that presents the developmental concepts used at West Point Building Capacity to Lead - asserts that West Points
curriculum provides a liberal education with experiences specifically designed to produce an adaptable Army officer who is ready for continued growth as a
strategic thinker and leader. (p. 31). Available at http://www.usma.edu/strategic/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/building%20the%20capacity%20to%20lead.pdf.
See also Educating Future Army Officers for a Changing World, (p. 9). Available at http://www.usma.edu/strategic/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/EFAOCW.pdf.
[xviii] West Point Leader Development System Handbook (May 2015), 11-12. Available at http://www.usma.edu/strategic/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/WPLDS%20
2015%20Handbook%20(FINAL).pdf
[xix] Ibid., 12. West Points recently revised Academic Program Goals (April 2013) also present critical thinking and creativity as core objectives for its graduates.
For a list of all goals see http://www.usma.edu/strategic/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/Approved%20Academic%20Program%20Goals%202013-04-25.pdf
[xx] Academic Program Goals (April 2013). Emphasis added.
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To cite this Article: Rothman, Maarten, Theory for Real-Worlders: Teaching International Security Studies to Dutch Cadets, Infinity
Journal Special Edition, International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 16-21.
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Maarten Rothman
References
[i] Zalewski, M. (1996). All these theories, yet the bodies keep piling up theories, theorists, theorizing. In Smith, S., Booth, K., & Zalewski, M. (1996). International
theory: Positivism and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[ii] E.g. George, A. L. (1993). Bridging the gap: Theory and practice in foreign policy. Washington, D.C: United States Institute of Peace Press. Nye, J. S. Jr. (2008).
Bridging the Gap between Theory and Policy. Political Psychology, vol.29 no.4: 593-603. Walt, S. M. (2011). International affairs and the public sphere. Cambridge,
Mass: Harvard Univ., John F. Kennedy School of Government.
[iii] E.g. Zalewski, All these bodies, 1996. Eriksson, J. (2014). On the Policy Relevance of Grand Theory. International Studies Perspectives, vol. 15 no.1: 94-108.
[iv] I use cadet as the inclusive term for students of all branches, including naval cadets. Students in the last year of the BA program can reach the rank of officer
cadet, or midshipman; all of these are included except when specifically noted.
[v] Ishiyama, J., Miller, W.J., and Simon, E. (2015). Handbook on Teaching and Learning in Political Science and International Relations. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
[vi] Maliniak, D., Peterson, S., Powers, R. and Michael J. Tierney, M. J. (2015). Notes from the Ivory Tower. Foreign Policy, available at: http://foreignpolicy.
com/2015/02/03/top-twenty-five-schools-international-relations/ (last checked May 6, 2015).
[vii] For an overview, see Buzan, B., & Hansen, L. (2009). The evolution of international security studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[viii] Osinga, F. P. B. (2007). Science, strategy and war: The strategic theory of John Boyd. London: Routledge. Bousquet, A. (2008) Chaoplexic Warfare or the future
of military organization, International Affairs vol.84 no.5: 915-929.
[ix] Goldgeier, J.M. (2013). The academic and policy worlds. In Williams, P.D. (2013). Security Studies, An Introduction 2nd ed., London: Routledge.
[x] E.g. Sabatier, P. and Mazmanian, D. (1980), The implementation of public policy: A framework of analysis. Policy Studies Journal, vol.8 no.4: 538560. Matland,
R.E. (1995), Synthesizing the implementation literature: The ambiguity-conflict model of policy implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and
Theory, vol.5 no.2: 145-174. See also Krulak, C. C. (1999). The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War. Ft. Belvoir: Defense Technical Information Center,
available at: http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA399413 (last checked May 6, 2015).
[xi] This paragraph borrows extensively from Klinkert, W. (2012). Mars naar de wetenschap: het streven naar de wetenschappelijk opgeleide officier, 1890-2011.
NLDA.
[xii] The Dutch educational system distinguishes between universities and hogescholen (polytechnics) which offer practice-oriented education at a somewhat
lower level; in countries that do not make this distinction most of these programs are also university programs.
[xiii] A Master program in War Studies was established in 2013, also under MoE oversight. This program is not a part of the MoDs career training courses. I lack
the space to discuss it further in this article.
[xiv] Separating the BA from the practical military training and the Faculty from the training staff has the disadvantage that cadets divide their time between the
two. Incidentally, the continuing division of practical training between branches means that naval cadets and midshipmen experience these pressures and time
constraints at different times than their army colleagues and, separately, their airforce colleagues and their marechaussee colleagues; the decade-long, ongoing
process of developing a common time-table constitutes an interesting case study in bureaucratic politics.
[xv] Williams, P.D. (2013), Security Studies, An Introduction 2nd ed., London: Routledge.
[xvi] The cases were: South-Sudan civil war (ISS1 tutorial sequence); Mali civil war; the rise of ISIS (tutorial sequences in previous courses); Yemen civil war and
Saudi intervention; and the crisis in Ukraine (single session exercises).
[xvii] Ministerie van Defensie (2010), Eindrapport Toekomstverkenningen Defensie, available at: http://www.fsw.vu.nl/nl/Images/Eindrapport%20Verkenningen_
tcm30-168292.pdf (last checked May 4, 2015).
[xviii] Our current textbook (Williams 2013) does a good job of describing the debates. While the authors of the various chapters usually show where they stand,
they happily dont agree.
[xix] Pallister, K. (2015). Teaching globalization and development through a simulation. PS, Political Science & Politics, vol.48 no.2: 364-367. Pallister describes the
benefits of simulation games as increased student engagement, development of teamwork skills, and potentially improved student learning, which is in line with
our teaching philosophy. However, simulation games are scripted in advance by the teacher and usually stand apart from other class sessions, which makes them
harder to integrate into the discussion. (They are also time-consuming to set up; see also Glazier, R. A. (2011) Running Simulations without Ruining Your Life: Simple
Ways to Incorporate Active Learning into Your Teaching. Journal of Political Science Education, Vol.7 no.4: 375-393.) By contrast our improvised simulations are set
up collaboratively and quickly, can be started, stopped, resumed or modified on the go, making it easier to integrate them into the surrounding class discussion.
[xx] Eriksson, On the policy relevance of theory, 2014, 100.
[xxi] Eriksson, On the policy relevance of theory, 2014, 101.
[xxii] Eriksson, On the policy relevance of theory, 2014, 101.
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Introduction
This paper looks at the element of international relations (IR)
courses at the Latvian National Defence Academy (LNDA)
and poses the question of whether IR courses should assume
a more prominent role in professional military education
(PME). By doing this, it also examines both the actual and
potential contribution of IR courses to the education of
officer cadets in Latvia. The choice in favour of, or against
the strengthening of, the IR component in military education
is usually not regarded as a strategic choice. This paper
puts forth the opposite claim. Although military strategy at
its basis can indeed be described as the direction and
use made of force for the purposes of policy as decided by
politics,[i] thus emphasising the divide between political
decision-makers and the military, many Western nations (see
other articles in this edition of the journal) use international
relations to help cadets develop a strategic mind-set. Why
would strategy and IR otherwise comprise such an important
element in the education of higher level commanding
officers?[ii] In addition, because the behaviour and choices
made by junior military officers affect strategic outcomes,
their understanding of cause and effect relationships, when
they confront a hostile environment far away from their home
countries, becomes a crucial part of the explanation for the
success or failure of any given operation. Strategy is likely to
fail, unless junior officers have a good understanding of how
they can contribute to the achievement of strategic goals.
Besides, in a few decades, todays officer cadets are likely to
To cite this Article: Rostoks, Toms, IR, or No IR? The Potential Contribution of IR Subjects to Professional Military Education at the
Latvian National Defence Academy, Infinity Journal Special Edition, International Relations in Professional Military Education,
winter 2016, pages 22-26.
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IR, or No IR?
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Toms Rostoks
troops, Latvias most significant contributions were to the USled effort in Iraq and the still continuing NATO operation in
Afghanistan. In addition to the security guarantees contained
in NATO Article 5, participation in international operations
was seen as an important factor contributing in a positive
way to Latvias security, presumably, by strengthening the
resolve of the NATO allies to defend Latvia. Although the logic
behind this argument is questionable, it largely explains the
reasoning behind Latvias increased participation in NATOs
ISAF operation in Afghanistan during the economic downturn
in 2008-2010, when the defence budget faced severe cuts.
In 2014, the war in Ukraine changed strategic thinking in
Latvia. Although Latvia is still likely to take part in international
operations, together with its NATO allies, there is a greater
focus on national security and the need to increase defence
spending in order to invest more in defence capabilities. In
summary, Latvia has a small military which was established in
the early 1990s, with its development being hindered by the
recent economic crisis. Although there has been renewed
interest in the strengthening of the military recently, it is clear
that there are no quick and easy solutions to the structural
problems and legacies of the transition period.
IR in Latvias PME
International relations is usually considered to be one of
the subfields in political science, which in turn belongs
to the group of social sciences. Unfortunately, modern
Western-style social sciences are relatively new in Latvia.
Political science and international relations, in particular,
were heavily controlled and distorted under Soviet rule.
International relations were interpreted in ideological terms
as a collision between the socialist Soviet Union and its allies,
against the hostile capitalist West. Thus, political science
and international relations in Latvia were in a sorry state
when the Soviet Union dissolved. However, social sciences
were seen as vital in building a successful democratic and
capitalist society. Therefore, civilian universities took the lead
by establishing study programmes in economics, business,
law, and political science, often with Western assistance to
establish such programmes and provide training to lecturers.
This welcome trend, however, had a limited impact on social
science subjects at the LNDA, as there was not much crossfertilisation between the LNDA and civilian universities. The
LNDA was reluctant to draw upon the emerging political
science and IR expertise from civilian universities, due to a
lack of appreciation of the added value that IR can bring
to officer cadet education. This stands in stark contrast to
PME in other NATO member states. This is, to some extent,
understandable because military education in Latvia had to
be created from scratch and the main focus was therefore
on the military tactical aspects of the officers education.
Today, the LNDA offers 4 professional undergraduate
study programmes and one postgraduate programme in
cooperation with the Baltic Defence College,[ix] situated
in Tartu, Estonia. The four professional undergraduate
programmes that the LNDA offers are Land Force Military
Leadership, Naval Force Military Leadership, Air Force
Military Leadership, and Commanding Officer. The latter
programme is aimed at applicants who already have an
undergraduate degree. The length of this study programme
is 1 year and 3 months. The other three programmes are
designed for holders of a secondary school certificate, and
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IR, or No IR?
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IR, or No IR?
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IR, or No IR?
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References
[i] What is Strategy? IJ Briefs. Infinity Journal, 03.04.2013. https://www.infinityjournal.com/article/91/What_is_Strategy/
[ii] The professional masters programme Military Leadership and Security which is jointly conducted by the Baltic Defence College and the Latvian National
Defence Academy has a large number of courses that fall within the IR field of studies: International Strategic Environment, Strategy in the Modern World, Media in
Modern Democracies and International Military Operations, and Crisis Response and Peace Support Operations. In addition, there are a number of courses that
deal with international law and NATO operational planning.
[iii] How Democratic is Latvia? The Audit of Democracy. (Cik demokrtiska ir Latvija? Demokrtijas audits) Juris Rozenvalds, ed. (University of Latvia Press, 2005),
p.230.
[iv] Public opinion survey: respondents have positive views of the Latvian military. (Ptjums: iedzvotji ne tikai uzticas bruotajiem spkiem, bet ar saredz to
attstbu un karavru profesionalittes palielinanos). Sargs.lv, 05.02.2015. http://www.sargs.lv/Zinas/Latvija/2015/02/05-01.aspx#lastcomment
[v] History of the Latvian National Defence Academy. http://www.naa.mil.lv/lv/Par_NAA/Vesture.aspx
[vi] Data provided by the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Latvia, 2012.
[vii] Defence Minister Raimonds Vjonis: The 2015 defence budget will have a positive impact on the Latvian armed forces (Vjonis: 2015. gada budets sekms
bruoto spku attstbu). Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, 2015. http://www.mod.gov.lv/lv/Aktualitates/Preses_pazinojumi/2014/12/17-02.aspx
[viii] Defence expenditure. Danish Ministry of Defence, 2015. http://www.fmn.dk/eng/allabout/Pages/Defenceexpenditure.aspx
[ix] The Baltic Defence College is a trilateral cooperation project between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It is funded jointly by the three Baltic states. The Baltic
Defence College is an English-speaking educational institution for operational and strategic-level military and civilian leaders in the Baltic States and their allies.
http://www.baltdefcol.org/
[x] Interview with Ms.Andela Rocenkova, lecturer and Head of Studies Department at the Latvian National Defence Academy. 17.06.2015.
[xi] Interview with Ms.aneta Ozolia, professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Latvia. 15.06.2015.
[xii] Interview with Ms.Nora Vanaga, a researcher at the Centre for Security and Strategic Research, Latvian National Defence Academy. 28.05.2015.
[xiii] Interview with Ms.Andela Rocenkova, lecturer and Head of Studies Department at the Latvian National Defence Academy. 17.06.2015
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officers learn, and how they learn it, in the academic field of
international relations and the closely related field of political
science.
Four debates in the educational sciences have informed
the Academys choices and shall also frame this article.
They are used as points of reference when presenting efforts
to increase the relevance and quality of the Academys
bachelor study programme: Military Studies Leadership
and Land Power. Each debate is here presented as pairs of
opposing notions that could be seen as extreme positions
on principle lines of controversy:[ii]
That officers in the early part of their careers have been faced
with such changes to their modus operandi will be obvious to
most. What is not obvious, however, is how professional military
education shall prepare officers to carry out their duties in
such new contexts. The educational choices made will be of
crucial importance to the ability of combat leaders on the
ground to put into effect strategic plans and further national
interests, as argued in the introduction of this special edition.
This article aims to clarify the Norwegian Military Academys
choices on these issues and the reasoning behind them. It
does so with a more particular focus on what junior army
The basic argument will be that for the last decade cadets
formation in political science and international relations
has moved in tune with the Academys educational reforms
from left to right on these lines of debate i.e. from an
emphasis on teaching towards learning, from a single- to an
interdisciplinary educational model, and from an emphasis
on education towards publications. As a result the disciplines
political science and international relations play a more
important role today in enhancing junior officers professional
identity and their understanding of how context influence
the utility of military force. Arguably, this model of professional
military education will make cadets more capable of fulfilling
the role as, what the introduction labels, strategic actors.
To cite this Article: Roennfeldt, Carsten F.,International Relations in Interdisciplinary Professional Military Education: The Norwegian
Model, Infinity Journal Special Edition, International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 27-33.
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in
constantly
changing
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respective instructor is capable of convincing decisionmakers in the Academys Educational Department of the
relevance with regard to learning outcomes. In competition
with other disciplines on a host of issues deemed highly
relevant to the military profession the criterion for inclusion
tends to be the practical utility of themes. Hence, the
Academy gives priority to the security dimension of political
science and international relations and within them to the
more traditional perspectives. The reason is to familiarise
cadets with the most commonly used ideas and concepts
underpinning contemporary debates on Norwegian security
policy. It follows that, for example, realism is prioritised over
constructivism, Buzans notion of a state over securitisation
theory, and NATO over the EU.
In addition, the didactic change from teaching to learning
requires that cadets have more time to prepare for seminar
groups. They are not primarily listening to a formal lecture,
but tasked to more time-consuming studying to explain
implications of ideas in the syllabus. For example during
a WWII case cadets discuss questions like: How did
Communism, Fascism and Liberalism respectively influence
the views and the conduct of war?
Evaluating effect
The final and crucial question to be addressed here is whether
it works. This is as simple to ask as it is difficult to answer. One
way the Norwegian Military Academy approaches this
question is through its Quality Management System. This
departs from the above-mentioned learning outcomes.
However, it is not evident whose and which standards should
be used to measure levels of achievement. Addressing this
question opens to a broader debate about the purpose of
professional military education.
In line with the overall aims of the Academys strategy, the
Quality Management System evaluates feedback from
battalion and company commanders who have received
officers recently graduated from the Norwegian Military
Academy. Overall, their responses are positive or very
positive with regard to the junior officers attitude, initiative
and theoretical competence. Better basic soldiering and
leadership skills are in demand, however.[xxvi]
Another parameter is comparison with grading systems in
the university sector. The Academys exams and bachelor
theses related to political science and international relations
are graded by university scholars teaching in the same fields
at bachelor level. So far, results suggest that cadets hold an
academic level comparable to universities. However, testing
what a cadet has learned in an interdisciplinary subject is
torn between two objectives: competence in the individual
disciplines that make up the subject on the one hand, and
on the other hand competence to combine knowledge
from different disciplines to reach a more comprehensive
understanding of the broader subject. The Academy has
dealt with this dilemma in two different ways for the past
three years. One is to test cadets in each discipline by
means of individually written exams with no books or notes
allowed. For example, this year one of the exam questions
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Carsten F. Roennfeldt
References
[i] Major Tor-Erik Hanssen, conversation at the Norwegian Military Academy, 6. November 2014.
[ii] The didactic perspectives presented here draw on a 2005 Norwegian Military Academy policy paper Concept for Learning and Development, in particular
a chapter by the Academys instructor in the educational sciences, Finn Gravem, pp. 59-78, available at http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/Documents/konsept-1.
doc; also Mona Stokke and Tina Mathisen (2011) Form eller innhold? En evaluering av tiltaket 60 seconds i strategiundervisningen ved Krigsskolen, F-rapport
no. 13, stlandsforskning, available at http://www.ostforsk.no/publikasjoner/form-eller-innhold-en-evaluering-av-tiltaket-60-seconds-i-strategiun-dervisningen-vedkrigsskolen
[iii] See, for example, Talcott Parsons and Gerald M. Platt (1973) The America University. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University; Eliot Freidson (1994) Professionalism
Reborn: Theory, Prophechy and Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p.14. From a university education point of view one would appreciate the relevance
and quality of cadets formation at Norwegian Military Academy from the perspective of a broad variety of scholarly disciplines such as English, scientific
methodology and international relations along criteria established within each academic field of knowledge. Alternatively, from the point of view of professional
education one would evaluate relevance and quality with regard to the professions specific role in society i.e. the ability to prepare officers to further a states
ends by the management of violence, see Samuel P. Huntington (1957) The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. New York:
Belknap Press, p.11.
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Carsten F. Roennfeldt
[iv] See Robert Barr and John Tagg (1995) From Teaching to Learning a New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education, Change, Vol.27, No.6, pp.13-25; Line Wittek
and Laurence Habib (2013) Quality Teaching and Learning as Practice Within Different Disciplinary Discourses, International Journal of Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education , Vol.25, No. 3, pp.275-287. Approaching education from the perspective of teaching focuses on those who master a field of expertise and
concerns how they best inform students about that field. In an extreme variant, this may take the form of a one-way formal lecture to a large audience. Others
see education as learning and consequently depart from the individual student and how he, or she, learns. This point of departure suggests that the task of an
educational institution is to create learning arenas. In an extreme variant, educational staff create learning arenas tailored to the specific needs of individual
student.
[v] See Tanya Augsburg (2006) Becoming Interdisciplinary: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. New York: Kendall/Hunt Publishing; Kirsti Lauvs and Per
Lauvs (2004) Tverrfaglig Samarbeid: Perspektiv og Strategi. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. A single-disciplinary approach introduces students to disciplines on their
own terms in separate classes. An interdisciplinary approach uses a number of disciplines to give a more comprehensive understanding of a common theme,
while each discipline uses the same approach to introduce its theories and concepts.
[vi] See John Biggs (2001) The reflective institution: assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, Higher Education, Vol.41, No.3, pp.221-238;
Per Olav Aamodt, Elisabeth Hovdhaugen , and Tine S. Pritz (2013) Utdanningskvalitet i hyere utdanning, NIFU report no. 6, available at http://brage.bibsys.
no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/280081/NIFUrapport2014-6.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. This dimension aims to capture the quality of higher education. In
the context of this article, the Ministry of Education generally evaluates the quality of institutions of higher education in terms of academic staffs research and
development production, whereas the army evaluates the quality of the Norwegian Military Academy according to its undergraduates competence as junior
military leaders.
[vii] Findings presented in a Norwegian Military Academy report by Dean Reidar Skaug on the education of future officers, avaliable at http://brage.bibsys.no/
xmlui/bitstream/id/134452/KS%20fagrapport%202-2012.%20Utdanning%20for%20fremtidens%20offiserer.pdf
[viii] See the Norwegian Military Academys Programme of Studies, p.11, available at http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/krigsskolen/student-ved-krigsskolen/
studiehandbok/Documents/2014-05-15%20(U)%20Studiehaandbok%20KSO%202014-2015%20montert.pdf
[ix] Inter-disciplinary subjects at the Norwegian Military Academy combine two to ten academic and practical disciplines like tactics, international relations,
leadership, English, etc. in an orchestrated manner to achieve a few common educational objectives.
[x] Syllabus included Iver B. Neumann and Stle Ulriksen (1997) Norsk forsvars og sikkerhetspolitikk in Knutsen et. al. eds. Norges utenrikspolitikk. Oslo: Cappelen
akademisk forlag, pp. 80-105, and sterud, yvind (1996) Statsvitenskap: Innfring i Politisk Analyse. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, as well as articles by Adam Roberts,
Anders Kjlberg, and others. Policy documents as white papers from the Ministry of Defence also formed part of the reading list.
[xi] The debate on surface and deep learning was central in these discussions, see Paul Ramsden (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London:
Routledge.
[xii] International Relations syllabus in the 2014-15 course included parts of Thomas G. Weiss et al (2014) The United Nations and Changing World Politics. Boulder:
Westview Press; Alex J. Bellamy and Paul Williams (2010) Understanding Peacekeeping. Cambridge: Polity Press; and Trevor Findlay (2002) The Use of Force in UN
Peace Operations. New York: Oxford University Press. Among United Nations documents used were Security Council resolutions and United Nations (2008) United
Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines, available at http://www.challengesforum.org/Global/Reports/External%20Reports/Capstone_
Doctrine_ENG.pdf?epslanguage=en
[xiii] In 2015 political science- and international relations-related texts on counterinsurgency included Alex Marshall (2010) Imperial Nostalgia, the liberal lie,
and the perils of postmodern counterinsurgency, Small Wars and Insurgency, Vol.21, No.2, pp. 233-258; Gilles Dorronsoro (2009) The Talibans Winning Strategy in
Afghanistan. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Tore Nyhamar (2010) Utfordringer og strategi i freds- og stabiliseringsoperasjoner. Oslo: Abstrakt
Forlag. Political parts of relevant doctrines are also studied such as the US Army (2006) Field Manuel 3-24, available at http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm324fd.pdf, 1-40; Mao Tse Tung (1978) Militrskrifter i Utvalg. Oslo: Oktober forlag; and Robert Thompson (2005) Defeating Communist Insurgency. St. Petersburg,
Florida: Hailer Publishing.
[xiv] Rupert Smith (2005) The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World. London: Penguin Group, pp.9-10.
[xv] Paul Ramsden (1988) Improving Learning: New Perspectives. London: Kogan Page.
[xvi] Gerd Bjrke (2006) Aktive lringsformer: Handbok for studenter og lrarar i hgre utdanning. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
[xvii] See European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System Users Guide, p.13, available at http://ec.europa.eu/education/tools/docs/ects-guide_en.pdf
[xviii] Barry Buzan (2009) People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. Colchester: European Consortium for
Political Research, pp.65-103. Of the interdisciplinary themes 800-pages syllabus political science and international relations contains, in addition to much from
the above-presented War-and-Society course, notably Torstein Hjellum (2008) Den Norske Nasjonalstaten. Oslo: Cappelen Damm, outlining the development
of political dynamics and institutions in Norway since the renaissance; and Michael Walzer (1970) Obligations: Essays on Disobedience, War and Citizenship.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp.77-98 discussing the implications of the Hobbesian versus the Rousseauean social contract for a states citizens.
[xix] On Mission Command see chapter 5 in US Army Field Manual 3-0 Operations, available at http://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-0.pdf
[xx] The main work here is Lawrence Freedman (2005) The Official History of the Falklands Campaign. London: Routledge, which addresses key political issues at
state and international level and connects them to military concerns and dilemmas on the ground in the Falklands.
[xxi] As explained in Gunnar Fermann (2011) Utenrikspolitikk som Begrep, Intensjon og Atferd in Jon Hovi and Raino Malnes ed. Anarki, Makt og Normer
Innfring i Internasjonal Politikk. Oslo: Abstrakt forlag, pp.28-37, 50-58.
[xxii] The main International Relations syllabus is here Tormod Heier and Anders Kjlberg (2013) Mellom Fred og Krig: Norsk Militr Krisehndtering. Oslo:
Universitetsforlaget.
[xxiii] See the Norwegian Military Academys Programme of Studies, p.11, available at http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/krigsskolen/student-ved-krigsskolen/
studiehandbok/Documents/2014-05-15%20(U)%20Studiehaandbok%20KSO%202014-2015%20montert.pdf ; and the Academys Strategy and Values, available at
http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/krigsskolen/om-krigsskolen/strategi-og-verdier/Sider/strategi-og-verdier.aspx
[xxiv] See Norwegian Military Academys Programme of Studies, p.10, available at http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/krigsskolen/student-ved-krigsskolen/
studiehandbok/Documents/2014-05-15%20(U)%20Studiehaandbok%20KSO%202014-2015%20montert.pdf
[xxv] See Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Doctrine (2007), chapter 6, available at http://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/99256/FFOD.
pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
[xxvi] Norwegian Military Academys Quality Assesment report 2013-2014 of 23. October 2014, pp.43-47, available from Norwegian Military Academy library see
http://hogskolene.forsvaret.no/krigsskolen/biblioteket/Sider/biblioteket.aspx
[xxvii] Paul Ramsden (1988) Improving Learning: New Perspectives. London: Kogan Page.
[xxviii] See also Kirsti Lauvs and Per Lauvs (2004) Tverrfaglig Samarbeid: Perspektiv og Strategi. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
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After the Cold War the Danish Armed Forces moved away
from their traditional role of territorial defence of Danish
soil and the near abroad NATO-area in northern West
Germany against a symmetric opponent, the Warsaw Pact,
towards a role as a globally deployable expeditionary force
underpinning the strategic choices of the Danish state.
Thus, Danish foreign and security policy in the late 1990s
and especially after 2001 followed what has been labeled
a super Atlanticist course aligning Denmark with the one
power which is thought to be able to guarantee Danish
national security, namely the United States (through a plugand-play relationship with the United Kingdom). This strategic
choice has had a remarkable effect on the Danish Armed
Forces. It has participated in all of the so-called new or
asymmetric wars[i] that the United States and Britain have
fought since the end of the Cold War: Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo,
Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, and now Iraq again. The armed
To cite this Article: Nyemann, Dorthe and Staun, Jrgen,From Territorial Defence to Expeditionary Forces. Mastering International
Relations and Coping with Different Cultures Has Become a Strategic Necessity for Danish Officers, Infinity Journal Special Edition,
International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 35-39.
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the legal ground rules in the relations among states and they
needed to know the overall dynamics of stability, instability,
security and conflict in the international system. They also
needed to understand the current issues and ongoing
conflicts, mostly seen from a Danish perspective as a small
state in a Northern European setting.
During the Cold War and on through the start of the 1990s
the focus was on territorial defence against a symmetric
adversary: the Warsaw Pact forces. If war came, it would be a
war for national survival, most likely involving tactical nuclear
weapons used on Danish soil. Thus, the role of the young
officer was first and foremost to lead men in battle and most
likely to die trying. Secondly, he was to be able to train his
soldiers often unmotivated draftees and prepare them for
battle. That battle, for most of the Danish land forces, would
have taken place in the southern part of Jutland or in the
northern parts of West Germany, trying to stop a presumed
overwhelming attacking force from the Warsaw Pact. The
tactical education was therefore attuned to traditional
military tasks such as clearing, attacking, patrolling and
guard service. Focus was on operating stand-alone units
under sovereign Danish command. Only staff officers of
higher rank would work more closely with other NATO forces
during exercises. The conscripts, the corporals, the sergeants
as well as the young officers would have little or no contact
with other NATO forces. Overall the education had many
more dimensions than it has today. Physical training was to a
lesser extent focused on preparing for battle (which seemed
unlikely), but instead focused on individual physical durability
exercised through running or swimming, and on building
team spirit, through team sports such as soccer. The role of
the officer as business leader made the topic of business
administration necessary. Language study did not just focus
on English as it does today,with cadets also choosing between
French and German. Leadership was also an important part
of the education as was psychology. The list was long. Each
discipline gave the cadet competence within its field, but the
curriculum was not focused on providing the cadets with the
ability to conduct strategic thinking and action drawing on
knowledge from the entire spectrum of disciplines in future
tasks. The education mirrored the international environment:
the officers had to be ready for a task all expected would
never come or would be over within days. With that prospect,
it was hard to stay focused.
For the faculty in IR the question of resources was answered
in negotiations with teachers from the many other disciplines
how much time and focus could political science and
international relations consume this year compared to last
year? It was an ongoing competition and the resources
available could always be used. In trying to give the cadets
the very best, the discussions among the faculty teaching
IR often took as their point of departure how to pass on
as much of what the faculty had been taught in civilian
universities as possible. The philosophy seemed to be the
same but easier. What was taught needed to be more
simple, easier to understand, faster to comprehend, with
less complexity but still useful for coming officers. In finding
the right textbook, the right academic articles, the right
approach in the classroom, this was central. At the very end
of the course, what the faculty wanted to accomplish was to
give the cadets an overall understanding of the disciplines
of political science, international relations and international
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law. This way of teaching and selecting topics for the cadets
had many fine qualities and the ongoing discussions did
provide a good and rich understanding of the political
environment surrounding the officers room for maneuver. As
the international environment changed and Danish officers
faced difficult challenges in the former Yugoslavia in the
early 1990s it slowly forced the staff at the RDAA to transform
towards a more focused and more responsive curriculum.
Relevance began to mean something different than before
and the traditional way of planning and teaching political
science and international relations came to an end.
A matter of state power
As early as the Danish Defence Agreement at Parliament in
1960 it was policy that the Officer Academies in Denmark
must teach the cadets about democracy. The explanation
is as is often the case in political science basically about
power. One of the important lessons to be learned from
historys many coups, rebellions and revolutions, is that the
decisive factor for a successful revolution is often that the
leaders of the revolution or rebellion manage to get the
countrys military forces, especially the officer corps, on
the side of the revolution the Russian Revolution in 1917
being a case in point. In other words, it is in the interest of
the state to ensure that the officer corps broadly shares
what in international relations theory is called the idea
of the state.[ii] That is, the founding ideas of the state on
which the state bases its power and legitimacy. And since
Denmark is a representative democracy, the state has an
interest in ensuring that the officer corps broadly shares this
foundational idea of the state. It is of course not the task of
the RDAA or the other Officer Academies to turn our cadets
into good democrats. We are to turn our cadets into good
officers. However, we build on the democratic foundations
laid by the whole of the public education system, which
starts with the values conveyed in Kindergarten, in Primary
school, in citizens general upbringing in associations
(forenings-livet), in conversations about this and that within
the family, in discussions among friends and acquaintances,
and in discussions in the media.[iii] Thus, the content of
the syllabus on Danish Politics concerning democracy was
merely a brush-up course in how selected parts of the
Danish political system work, supplemented with classical
discussions on Plato and Socrates, as well as discussions on
Danish thinkers on democracy such as Hal Koch and Alf Ross.
Also, the domestic political process the key elements of the
parliaments decision which precedes the deployment of a
military contingent in an international conflict was touched
upon.
An expeditionary army demands strategic thinking officers
Since the end of the bipolarity of the Cold War, Denmark
has followed a foreign policy path branded foreign policy
activism or military activism.[iv] Successive Danish defence
committees concluded that there was no longer any
conventional military threat towards Danish territory.[v] Thus,
during the 1990s Denmark moved from territorial defence/
deterrence and the occasional UN-led peacekeeping
role[vi] during the Cold War and developed into a selfdeclared strategic actor, which participates directly in
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References
[i] Herfried Mnkler, The New Wars (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005).
[ii] Barry Buzan, People, States and Fear. The National Security Problem in International Relations (London: Harwester Wheatsheaf, 1983).
[iii] Thus, the understanding of democracy followed here is informed by the classical writing of the Danish thinker Hal Koch. In his book What is democracy? from
1946, he argues that democracy is a mindset, a way of life, which you first acquire by the fact that you live through it in the narrowest private life, in your relations to
family and neighbors, as well as in the external relations with the larger community, and in relation to your compatriots, and finally in the relations to other nations.
Hal Koch, Hvad er demokrati? (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1991), p.13.
[iv] Anders Henriksen and Jens Ringsmose, Hvad fik Danmark ud af det? Irak, Afghanistan og forholdet til Washington, DIIS Report 2011:14 (Copenhagen: DIIS,
2011).
[v] See for example De sikkerhedspolitiske vilkr for dansk forsvarspolitik, 2003, p.9, which argues that the direct conventional threat towards Danish territorium
has disappeared in the foreseeable future. Or see The Danish National Defense Commission in 2008, which argues that Denmark will in a foreseeable future
not be confronted with direct, conventional military threats. Dansk forsvar - Globalt engagement. Beretning fra Forsvarskommissionen af 2008 (Copenhagen:
Forsvarsministeriet, 2009), p.60.
[vi] Rasmus Brun Petersen, Danish foreign policy activism: Differences in kind or degree?, Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 47, No. 3, (2012), p.335.
[vii] Sten Rynning, Denmark as a strategic actor? Danish Security Policy after 11 September, Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2003, (Copenhagen: DIIS, 2003).
[viii] Poul Villaume, Denmark and NATO through 50 Years, Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 1999, (Copenhagen: DUPI, 1999).
[ix] Anders Wivel, Between Paradise and Power: Denmarks Transatlantic Dilemma, Security Dialogue, Vol. 35, No. 5, (2005), pp.417-421.
[x] Hans Mouritzen, Denmarks Super Atlanticism, Journal of Transatlantic Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, (2007), pp.155-67.
[xi] Anders Henriksen and Jens Ringsmose, Hvad fik Danmark ud af det? Irak, Afghanistan og forholdet til Washington, DIIS Report 2011:14, (Copenhagen: DIIS,
2011).
[xii] Peter Viggo Jakobsen and Jens Ringsmose, Size and reputation why the USA has valued its special relationships with Denmark and the UK differently since
9/11, Journal of Transatlantic Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2, (2015), pp.135153.
[xiii] Peter Viggo Jakobsen, speech at the Royal Danish Military Academy, April 16, (2015).
[xiv] Katrine Nrgaard, Stefan Ring Thorbjrnsen and Wilhelm Holsting, Militr Etik og Ledelse i Praksis, (Copenhagen: Forsvarsakademiet, 2008), p.9.
[xv] Prakash Reddy, 1991, here quoted from Tim Knudsen, Dansk Statsbygning, (Copenhagen: Jurist- og konomforbundets Forlag, 1995), p.94.
[xvi] Ulla Holm, Muhammed-tegningerne debatter om liberale vrdier i europiske lande, Den ny Verden, Vol. 39, No. 2, (2006), pp.21-29.
[xvii] Michael Kimmelman, A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery, The New York Times, February 8, (2006).
[xviii] Montgomery McFate J.D., Anthropology and Counterinsurgency: The Strange Story of their Curious Relationship, Military Review, March-April, (2005).
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Introduction
The distinction between studying strategy and practicing it is
important.This article explains how strategy and international
relations are taught at Canadas Royal Military College.
The idea that strategic thinking is a by-product of a broad
university education is relevant to any country whose officers
must think for themselves early in their careers.
RMCs professors, military and civilian, behave like professors
To cite this Article: Last, David, Dizboni, Ali, and Breede, H. Christian,Does Canada Educate Strategic Subalterns?, Infinity Journal
Special Edition International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 40-49.
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References
[i] The Global Security Education Project is a long term research collaboration with participants in more than 20 countries (www.othree.ca/globalsecurity )
[ii] Colin S. Gray, The Strategy Bridge: Theory for Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p.262, cited by Infinity Journal, What is Strategy?
[iii] Preston, Richard Arthur. Canadas RMC: A history of the Royal Military College. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969), Introduction.
[iv] David Last, Irritants to Pearls: Military Education, Epistemic Communities, Communities of Practice and Networks of Learning, presented at the International
Society of Military Sciences, Vienna, October 2014.
[v] Walter Gallie, Philosophy and the Historical Understanding, New York: Schocken Books, 1964.
[vi] Lukes, Steven. Power: A radical view. (London: Macmillan, 1974) 14-33. Lukes has been regularly cited since 2000 in public administration and education
research.
[vii] Ibid., pp. 25 and 28.
[viii] John V. Lombardi, How Universities Work (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, University Press, 2013), Chapter 1.
[ix] Does military education need a doctrine? The Case of Canada, Global Security Education Project, Collaborative Research Space, Forums, https://www.
othree.ca/pcp/gserphome/gserp/forums/does_military_education_need_a_doctrine_the_case_of_canada accessed 18 June 2015
[x] Generic Officer PME Defence Curriculum, NATO Partnership Action Plan for Defence Institution Building, 2011. Hereafter, NATO PAP-DIB (2011)
[xi] NATO PAB-DIB (2011) p. 5
[xii] We explore evolution further in the article, David Last, Ali Dizboni, Christian Breede, Teaching International Relations at Canadas Royal Military College: Sixty
years of evolution and its implications, forthcoming.
[xiii] Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP) Manual. Kingston, ON: Royal Military College of Canada, 2010.
[xiv] Formerly the Department of Business Administration
[xv] Current course descriptions can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar at www.rmc.ca. A survey of historical course descriptions is available online at
https://www.othree.ca/pcp/gserphome/gserp/blogs/reporting_on_ir_and_strategy_education
[xvi] Lawrence Freedman, The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy, 3rd Edition (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003), xviii.
[xvii] John Baylis and James J. Wirtz, Strategy in the Contemporary World: Strategy After 9/11 in John Baylis, James J. Wirtz, and Colin S. Gray eds. Strategy in the
Contemporary World 4th Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 5
[xviii] For simplicity and consistency, we discuss only English-language courses and content. Most courses and all programs are offered in both French and English.
Francophone cadets make up about 24 percent of the cadet wing, and about 40 percent of courses offered are taught in French in any given year, although taken
by only about 20 percent of students, because many Francophones take courses in English, but the reverse is not true. Enrolment ratio is discussed in the appendix.
[xix] Interview, Linda Muzzin, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), 4 February 2015; Gary Thomas, Education: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press, 2013), Chapter 6.
[xx] Two main bodies of literature support this conceptualization: educational theory and the sociology of knowledge. There is a lot of work on primary and
secondary school teaching, but the work on higher education and professional development is of more interest, Muzzin, 2015.
[xxi] John Craig,Teaching Politics to Practitioners, in Handbook on Teaching and Learning in Political Science and International Relations, John Ishimaya, William
J. Miller, and Eszter Simon, editors. (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2015), 28-34.
[xxii] Correspondence from Dr. James Finan, strategic policy analyst and professor emeritus, 2 June 2015.
[xxiii] https://www.rmc.ca/en/college-commandants-office/rmcc-battlefield-tour-2015
[xxiv] Robert J. Beck, Towards a Pedagogy of the Oxford Tutorial. Irvine, CA: University of California, 2007.
[xxv] Andreas Broscheid, Designing Team Based Learning Activities, in Ishiyama et al (2015), 340-350.
[xxvi] Brenda Kauffman, Multidisciplinary approaches to teaching political science, in Ishiyama et al (2015), 111-120.
[xxvii] Programs and Qualifications, [online] http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/training-prof-dev/officer.page accessed 29 June, 2015.
[xxviii] What Got You Here, Might Not Get You There: Developing National Security Practitioners for the 21st Century, Conference held at The Library Room,
Diefenbaker Building, Old City Hall, Ottawa, Ontario, 18th June, 2015.
[xxix] Donald Savoie, What is Government Good at? A Canadian Answer. Kingston: McGill-Queens Press, 2015, (pre-publication).
[xxx] For more on the dynamics of the research university and the competing pressures of a quality engine, see John V. Lombardi, How Universities Work, Baltimore,
MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013, especially chapters 1 and 6.
[xxxi] Correspondence from Dr. James Finan, former strategic policy analyst and professor emeritus, 2 June 2015. In his correspondence, he cited Thomas L. Saaty,
Decision Making for Leaders: The Analytical Hierarchy Process for Decisions in a Complex World, London: Wadsworth, 1982; and Niall M. Fraser and Kieth Hipel,
Conflict Analysis: Models and Resolutions, New York: North-Holland, 1984.
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Key Content:
T
THOUGHT the ideas of significant strategists, usually historical, military or political, like Clausewitz or Sun Tzu
RELATIONSHIPS usually in the form of narratives about how relationships changed over time as a result of strategies
and circumstances, but not demanding prescription. Cases in international relations, or studies of diplomatic
history are typical of this category
INSIGHT understanding the other, and ways in which the values and thinking of other actors impact on interests
and strategies.
PRACTICE how to apply strategies to practical problems, e.g. game theory, analysis, interpretation of events,
culminating in prescriptions for action, or the actual conduct of a game or simulation
Mandatory for: A=Arts degrees; S=Science degrees; E=engineering degrees; M=Military and strategic studies degrees;
H=history degrees; B=business degrees; P=politics degrees; S=psychology degrees.
Enrolment ratio: The intent is to indicate the proportion of graduates likely to have taken the course. Mandatory core for
all students is 100 percent (e.g. HIE271). Mandatory for arts and science degrees is 60 percent (e.g. POE116).
Mandatory for most arts programs is 10 percent. Mandatory for business or psychology is 15 percent. Popular
elective is 10 percent. Boutique course is 2 percent. These are indicators only; actual enrolment will fluctuate. Arts
electives the majority of the courses are likely to have been taken by less than one percent of any graduating
class.
SP
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Key content
Mandatory for
Enrolment ratio
all
100
T, R
T, R, P
A, S
60
14
M, H
11
M, H
11
R, S
T, S, R
T, T
T, R
I, P
I, P
I, P
S, R
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Enrolment ratio
ENE384 Post-Colonial Literature of Africa, South Asia, and The West Indies
T, S
T, S
R, S
HIE405 History of the relations between Canada and the United States
R, S, I
HIE454 War, Peace and Diplomacy Foreign Policies of Great Powers since R, T, S,
1815
T, R
T, R
T, R, I
T, R
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Mandatory for
Enrolment ratio
I, T
S, I
I, R
I, T
T, I
I, S
SOE330 Humanitarianism
S, R
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Introduction
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) was formed
in 1947, bringing together the Royal Military Academy (RMA)
and the Royal Military College (RMC) to train the regular
officers of the British Army. Its then two-year course included
both military and academic subjects, while national service
and short service officers were trained at officer cadet
schools (OCS) (Sale, 1972). One of those schools, the Mons
Barracks in Aldershot continued to train short service cadets,
graduate entrants and territorials after the abolishment of
conscription in 1960, but in 1972 the responsibilities of Mons
were entirely assigned to RMAS (MoD, 2015). As one of the
major milestones in British officer training, this reformed the
commissioning programme substantially. Academic studies
were condensed and only offered to future regular officers,
while all officer cadets undertook a six-month military course.
Since then, a range of reform efforts has been carried out,
which has led to the current system (Interview 2, 2015).
The history of the Sandhurst Commissioning Course (CC)
has seen much debate on the appropriate percentage of
academic education as part of the overall course and these
debates have generated a variety of adaptations to the
programme. The reasons behind these changes have been
triggered by strategic and budgetary reasons alike. Arguably,
To cite this Article: Jacobs, An, Teaching IR at Sandhurst: Blended Learning through an Integrated Approach, Infinity Journal
Special Edition, International Relations in Professional Military Education, winter 2016, pages 50-55.
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An Jacobs
staff in military exercises. For DIA this not only means jointly
writing Exercise Broadsword (Ex BS) with military counterparts,
but also providing political input and legal expertise on the
exercise.This ranges from ensuring that the civilian population
understands the roles they are playing at every stage of the
two week long exercise, to functioning as a Political Advisor or
journalist to test officer cadets in their interaction with civilian
experts. The presence of academic personnel on Ex BS is to
enhance the learning experience of the officer cadets and
maximise their learning potential.
The final session of DIA, at the end of the cadets senior term,
is referred to as contemporary developments, which could
be described as a miniature conference, where students are
encouraged to ask a panel of DIA staff questions on current
affairs, often related to their potential future deployments.
Mixed teaching methods require mixed methods of
assessment. Thirty per cent of the students assessments for
the DIA grade of the CC at undergraduate level relate to their
behaviour in class.The continuous assessment element reflects
the importance given to ensuring that officer cadets convey
analytically balanced and evidence-based arguments at all
times, as well as the ability to actively listen constructively and
contribute to class debates. To emphasise the importance
of both research and oral communication skills, twenty per
cent is dedicated to a presentation in the intermediate
term, where students are given a research question with
high relevance to the contemporary international security
landscape. After independently researching the topic, they
present their findings in class and subsequently take the
lead in a class debate on the topic. It is at the end of the
second term that students start complementing their verbal
skills with written ones and are expected to demonstrate the
incorporation of their learning outcomes in writing. Hence,
forty per cent of the DIA assessment at undergraduate level
is awarded to what is termed The Commandants Research
Paper, a 2500 word essay on a DIA-related topic. At the end
of the Commissioning Course, there is a prize for the best
DIA Commandants Research Paper. The remaining ten per
cent covers a LOAC test where students demonstrate their
understanding of the key legal principles, responsibilities and
rules of engagement when at war.
A New Academic Era
Following experiences of the British Army in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the realisation grew that future deployment
was moving into an area of uncertainty. There was a growing
recognition of the importance of the intellectual agility of
officers, and an enhanced desire to not only reenergise
intellectual education in the army, but to train and educate
more creative and bespoke problem-solvers (Melvin, 2012).
The realisation triggered a general trend in army education
with a focus on enhanced adult learning, where the student
is given more responsibility for his or her own learning process.
This led to the development of a Higher Education Policy to
cultivate intellectual training (Chatham House, 2011).
As a consequence of the Higher Education Policy, the
academic courses at Sandhurst are currently going through
an intensive phase of reform, introducing postgraduate
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Short Courses
As has been shown, the wide range of topics covered
under international relations, security studies and foreign
and defence policy feature as key academic subjects
throughout the 48 weeks commissioning course and beyond.
But the importance Sandhurst allocates to understanding
the international security landscape and developing the
desirable analytical academic skills is also reflected in a
range of short courses taught at the Academy. While these
courses offer very similar subjects, and focus on developing
similar skill sets, their delivery is heavily condensed and
adjusted to the limited time available.
The DIA component of the Late Entry Commissioning Course
(LEOC), for example, is an intensive module delivered over
two and a half days. It is a foundation course designed
to help Late Entry Officers develop better conceptual and
analytical skills and a more nuanced understanding of the
strategic, legal and political context of conflict. The course
begins by examining the wider strategic environment within
which the United Kingdom operates and then proceeds to
link these strands vis--vis British foreign and defence policy
(DIA Component of LEOC, 2015).
It provides a strong foundation for Late Entry Captains, who
will proceed to take the abovementioned Military Analysis
course. The skills developed during LEOC will be further
developed, and the topics discussed will be studied in greater
depth during the Military Analysis course. Although the DIA
component of LEOC is a demanding and intellectually
rewarding course in its own right, this means that it not
only gives the students more confidence for continuous
professional development, but it will also demonstrate what
students can expect from their future Military Analysis courses.
Another short course that requires DIA involvement is the
Professionally Qualified Officers course. This course runs twice
a year and is loaded with 40-60 commissioned officers of
the British Army and, occasionally, students from overseas
armed forces. Students are typically qualified professionally
in an area of Law, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Physiotherapy,
Veterinary Science, or Theology. The DIA component of the
Regular Professionally Qualified Officers Course (Regular
PQO) is currently delivered in 6 double periods spread
over three to four weeks. The sessions are followed by a Final
Debate exercise, which is run jointly by the DIA and War
Studies departments. The aim of the DIA component is to
enhance the intellectual development of PQO officers by
developing knowledge and understanding of the strategic
and legal context in which the United Kingdom operates in
the contemporary international security environment, as well
as to help with further intellectual development, specifically
contextual, conceptual and analytical skills (PQO Course,
2015).
In addition, the DIA lecturers are involved in delivering
academic courses in the context of international security for
a variety of other groups, such as the reserve CC, the reserve
soldiers CC, and the reserve PQOs course. Add to this the
DIA teaching requirement for the overseas cadets, and it
highlights the complexity of schedules and involvement.
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An Jacobs
References
Chatham House (2011), Land Forces Fit for the 21st Century, International Security Programme Chatham House, in conjunction with Lt Gen Paul Newton and HQ
Land Forces.
Defence Gateway (2015), Academic Faculty, available (restricted) online at https://vle.rmasandhurst.mod.uk/moodle/, retrieved at 28 May 2015.
DIA Component of LEOC (2015), designed by Aelius Parchami and available online (restricted) at https://vle.rmasandhurst.mod.uk/moodle/pluginfile.
php/24296/mod_resource/content/1/2014%20-%20DIA%20Component%20of%20LEOC%20%28July%29.pdf, retrieved 29 May 2015.
Downes, C. (1992), Special Trust and Confidence. The Making of An Officer, Frank Cass and Company Limited.
Interview 1, Senior Civil Servant Ministry of Defence, 15 June 2015
Interview 2, Senior Civil Servant Ministry of Defence, 25 June 2015
Melvin, M. (2012), Educating and Training the Army for an Uncertain World, The British Army Journal 2012, available at http://army.newsdeskmedia.com/britisharmy-2012/educating-and-training-the-army-for-an-uncertain-world?p=2, retrieved on 25 June 2015
Military Analysis Course Handbook (2015),Britains Role in the International Security Environment, designed by Aelius Parchami and available online at (restricted):
https://vle.rmasandhurst.mod.uk/moodle/, retrieved at 28 May 2015
Ministry of Defence (2015), Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, History, available at http://www.army.mod.uk/training_education/24487.aspx, retrieved on 08
June 2015
References
Professionally Qualified
Officers Course, Department of Defence and International Affairs, designed by Aelius Parchami and available online at (restricted):
https://vle.rmasandhurst.mod.uk/moodle/pluginfile.php/24300/mod_resource/content/1/2015%20-%20PQO%20Regular.pdf, retrieved at 28 May 2015
[i] Bengo, Yacov and Shabtai, Shay, The Post Operational Level Age: How to properly maintain the interface between Policy, Strategy and tactics in current military
Sale,
G. S. (1972),
Educating
Potential
Royal
United
Services
Institute (RUSI) Journal 117 (4)
challenges,
part 1,
Infinity Journal,
vol.Officers,
4 issue 3,
Spring
2015,
pp. 4 9.
[ii] Bengo, Yacov and Segal, Giora, The Post Operational Level Age: The Operational Focus Approach, part 2, Infinity Journal, vol. 4 issue 4, Summer 2015, pp. 4-11.
[i]
with The
a lower
class
postgraduate
degree
(2.2)
and above
allowed
[iii]Students
Smith, Ruprt,
Utilitysecond
of Force
Thehonors
Art of War
in the Modern
World,
Vintage,
2007, are
pp 382
384.to enter the postgraduate strand, and those with a third class
honors degree (3rd) have to take an entrance exam. Given the early stages of the implementation of the postgraduate degree, the Academy, in cooperation with
[iv] The USUniversity,
Army and
Marine
Field Manual 3-24, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007, pp 140 141.
Cranfield
might
stillCorps,
decideCounterinsurgency
to change this.
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The Journal of
Military Operations
Aaron Jackson
Steve Hart
Gerry Long
Jim Storr
Lee Il-Woo
Ieva Brzia
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