Category: Modern Warfare

New Open Access Book: Russia’s War in Ukraine and Modern Warfare

On 27 July 2026

In Intelligence Analysis, Land Warfare, Modern Warfare, Publication, Russia, Urban Warfare

I am delighted to announce the publication of Russia’s War in Ukraine and Modern Warfare: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology, co-edited with Dr Niklas Nilsson and published by Oxford University Press.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is a defining conflict of our time and a watershed in the evolution of modern warfare. It has challenged established assumptions about how wars are fought, sustained, commanded and understood. Our new volume brings together leading scholars and practitioners to examine what the war reveals about both the enduring nature and changing character of warfare.

The book combines thematic analysis with detailed case studies. Its chapters examine:

manoeuvre warfare and urban warfare;
mission command and command and control;
military logistics and health services;
air and maritime warfare;
force generation and military training;
intelligence collection and sharing;
drones and other emerging technologies;
military learning and adaptation;
gender and the Ukrainian armed forces; and
key phases of the war between 2014 and 2025.

The volume is structured around four parts: dimensions of modern warfare; organisation, technology and training; chronological case studies; and a concluding assessment of the wider lessons of the war.

In addition to co-editing the volume, I co-authored three chapters:

“Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Evolution of Modern Warfare”, with Niklas Nilsson;
“The City as a Battlefield: (Re)Thinking Urban Warfare in the Wake of Ukraine”, with Douglas W. Winton; and
“Russia’s War in Ukraine: Taking Stock”, with Niklas Nilsson.

The book is published Open Access and can be read or downloaded free of charge through Oxford Academic.

Read and download the complete book

The print paperback edition will be published on 30 August 2026 and can be ordered from Oxford University Press.

Reference

Weissmann, Mikael and Niklas Nilsson, eds. Russia’s War in Ukraine and Modern Warfare: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198970903.001.0001

Lecture at NATO Defence College: The Land Domain

By mikaelweissmann

On 19 May 2026

In Conference, Land Warfare, Modern Warfare, Visit

On 18 May 2026, I had the pleasure of giving a lecture at the NATO Defence College in Rome for NATO Senior Course 148 on “The Land Domain: The changing character of war and trends in the land warfighting domain.”

The lecture focused on key trends in contemporary land warfare, including the return of high-intensity industrial war, the increasing transparency of the battlefield, the growing role of drones and artillery, multi-domain pressure on land forces, electronic warfare, urban warfare, and the implications of adversaries disregarding the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.

I also discussed emerging developments in land-domain technology and tactics, including UAS, electronic warfare, armour adaptation, robotics, AI-enabled decision support, precision fires, digitalisation, and uncrewed ground systems. The lecture concluded with an assessment of NATO’s land warfighting strengths and areas of concern, including readiness, air defence, industrial capacity, MDO implementation, rear-area resilience, and manpower.

Many thanks to the NATO Defence College for the invitation and for a very good discussion.

Lecture at NATO Defence College: The Changing Character of War

By mikaelweissmann

On 25 November 2025

In Conference, Land Warfare, Modern Warfare, Visit

On 25 November 2025, I had the pleasure of giving a lecture at the NATO Defence College in Rome for the NATO Senior Course on “The changing character of war: Trends in the Land Warfighting Domain.”

The lecture addressed strategic trends in modern land warfare, new developments in land-domain techniques and technology, and NATO’s and its member states’ land warfighting capabilities.

Many thanks to the NATO Defence College for the invitation and for a very good discussion.

Docent Dr Mikael Weissmann is an Associate Professor at the Department of Systems Science for Defence and Security at the Swedish Defence University. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Swedish Defence University Centre for Land Warfare. He is also an Associate Professor in War Studies and Affiliated Researcher at the university’s Centre for Wargaming (CWG). He co-convenes the Hybrid Threats Research Group (HTRG) and serves as the Principal Investigator of the project “Building Resilience and Psychological Defence: Countering Hybrid Threats and Foreign Influence and Interference.”

Weissmann’s research focuses on Security, Strategy and Intelligence. His work is structured around six themes:
1. Hybrid Threats
2. Resilience & Psychological Defence
3. Strategic Intelligence
4. Technology & Defence
5. Modern Warfare
6. China and the Indo-Pacific

In addition, Weissmann is interested in Teaching & Learning within Professional Military Education (PME), particularly practical and scenario-based exercises and assessments with special emphasis on staff rides and wargames.

He currently pursues research in a number of areas, including:
- Teaching & Learning in PME, focusing on staff rides, wargames, and scenario-based learning approaches.
- Hybrid threats and whole-of-society defence, focusing on foreign influence and interference.
- Psychological Defence, focusing on the building resilience and psychological defence
- Strategic Intelligence, particularly the role of AI and the private sector and the dissemination of intelligence in the information environment in Strategic Early Warning.
- Technology and Defence, focusing on military innovation and the role of AI and autonomous systems in warfare.
- Russian Warfare and Influence, with a particular interest in Ukraine, the Balkans and Central Asia.
- Military Operations and Tactics, in particularly Urban Warfare and the ole of technology.
- China’s foreign policy and role in the world (including its role in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Global South, and the implication of the second Trump Administration).
- Security and Strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
- Foreign Influence and Local Adaptation in Post-Colonial States under Great-Power Influence (focusing on Central Asia and the Middle Corridor).

ABOUT
Dr Mikael Weissmann is an Associate Professor in War Studies and Academic Head & Deputy Head of the Land Operations Division at the Swedish Defence University. He is co-convenor of the Land Warfare Research Group (LWRG) and the Hybrid Threats Research Group (HTRG). He is also a member of CSCAP-EU.

Weissmann’s research on security, strategy and warfare focuses on four research themes:
1) Hybrid Threats and Foreign Interference, 2) Intelligence Analysis, 3) Land Operations and Tactics, and 4) China and East Asian Security and Strategy.

He is also interested in Teaching & Learning with a special interest in practical and scenario-based exercises and examinations as well as Professional Military Education (PME).

His expertise includes:
- Hybrid threats- and warfare
- Land Warfare
- Urban Warfare
- Intelligence analysis
- Russian warfare and influence (particular interest in the Balkans and Eastern Europe)
- Military operations and tactics
- Military tactical thinking
- China and East Asian security and strategy broadly defined.
- Practical and scenario-based exercises and examinations (including staff rides, war games, case studies, scenario exercises, simulations and roleplaying games)
- Professional Military Education (PME)

His research on China and East Asia focuses on:
- China’s foreign policy and role in the world
- the South China Sea
- the North Korean nuclear conflict
- the Taiwan Issue
- Regional and Global Power Shift
- the Belt and Road initiative

Weissmann has also pursued research on track-two diplomacy, conflict management and peacebuilding as well as Sino-Russian and Europe’s relations with China and East Asia.