New Director: "The world cries out for knowledge about defense and security policy"

Since the Centre for Military Studies was established in 2010, it has contributed to a defense policy debate based on knowledge and openness to different points of view.

Senior researcher Kristian Søby Kristensen has been part of that work since the centre's birth. After a few years as deputy centre manager, he will now lead the Centre for Military Studies.

"Kristian has helped to create a unique environment where the Armed Forces and researchers have exchanged knowledge and formulated ideas for politicians. This way of co-creating knowledge and coming up with concrete proposals for policy is the centre's trademark," emphasizes Dean Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, who was Director of the Centre for Military Studies in its early years.

"With Kristian on the bridge, the centre will strengthen and develop these skills. At a time when the Danish Armed Forces are to invest billions in new technology and new hardware, there is, more than ever before, a need for research-based ideas on military investments," elaborates Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen.

Across the University of Copenhagen, defense-related research is being upgraded. As a global centre for quantum research, the university contributes to the development of defense-related quantum technology for NATO, and at the Faculty of Social Sciences, research is carried out in, among other things, cyber security and virtual reality. At the Centre for Military Studies, targeted research is conducted into the interaction between defense and technology.

Top quality research

The Centre for Military Studies is located at the Department of Political Science. Here, Head of department Nina Græger is delighted that Kristian Søby Kristensen has agreed to lead the centre for the next five years.

"I have high expectations that the Centre for Military Studies, under Kristian's leadership, will offer research-based services, dissemination and analyses of top quality. We look forward to working closely with him and his team," she says.

The new centre manager is very eager to get started in his new role.

"Together with the centre's excellent staff and many national and international partners, I am very much looking forward to strengthening and developing defense and security policy research in Denmark," says Kristian Søby Kristensen.

Knowledge sharing in wartime

Kristian Søby Kristensen takes over as centre leader at a time when war has once again come to Europe. In other words, there is a great need to bring defense and security policy experiences and knowledge together.

"With Russia's tragic invasion of Ukraine, efforts have been significantly increased in Danish defense and security policy. The invasion emphasizes how important a knowledge-based public debate is. And the world cries out for knowledge about defense and security policy," says the centre's leader.

Nina Græger is also convinced that the Centre for Military Studies will only play a greater role in the coming years.

"Knowledge about security policy, geopolitics and the possibilities and limitations of military power - not only in light of Russian aggression, but also the rapid technological development – will be of great importance to Danish decision-makers and the public debate going forward," she assesses.