International relations and the armed forces: internationalisation and academisation of military education

• Published in: Internasjonal politikk Vol. 65; no. 2; pp. 173 - 204
• Main Author: Graeger, Nina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Norwegian
• Published: 01.01.2007
• Subjects: Armed Forces; Curriculum; Educational Programs; Higher education; International Relations; Internationalization; Military; Military Officers; Norway; Post Cold War Period; Professional Training; Training
• ISSN: 0020-577X

During the Cold War, the Norwegian Armed Forces were organised to fight an invasion against Norwegian territory. The end of this era should at least in principle imply changes not only in military practices on the ground but also in the training and education of officers. This article analyses the inertia in the internationalisation of higher military education programmes in Norway, where the strengthening of a subject like International Relations began only at the end of the 1990s. One explanation for the discrepancy between the military curriculum, on the one hand, and the new military environment facing the officers, on the other, is that existing practices were taken for granted and reproduced in social structures. The debate about military education also reflects a traditional conflict between those who have seen an academisation of military education as an intervention into the monopoly of knowledge of the officer profession, and those who embraced such a development. Reprinted by permission of Norwegian Institute of International Affairs