Docent Dr Mikael Weissmann

Hybrid Threats | Psychological Defence | Intelligence analysis | Technology & Defence | Modern Warfare | Urban Warfare | Staff Rides | Wargames | China and the Indo-Pacific | the Balkans

Category: Publication Page 1 of 2

New Article Published: Staff Rides in Professional Military Education

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On 9 March 2025

In Professional Military Education (PME), Publication, Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning, War Games, Wargames

A new article, co-authored with Major Jonas Björkqvist of the Swedish Defence University, has been published in Contemporary Military Challenges.
🔹 Title: Staff Rides in Professional Military Education: Fusing History, the Modern Battlefield, and the Battlefield of the Future
🔹 Journal: Contemporary Military Challenges
🔹 Keywords: Staff rides, war games, professional military education, battlefield study


Abstract
This article examines the critical role of staff rides in professional military education (PME), emphasizing their ability to bridge historical military events with modern and future operational realities. It introduces a structured hybrid staff ride model that ensures relevance for today’s military leaders.
Key Insights from the Study:
✔️ The Hybrid Model – A structured approach balancing historical analysis with contemporary and future operational demands.
✔️ Pedagogical Planning Model – A framework for designing staff rides that ensures learning objectives are aligned with practical field activities.
✔️ Integration of War Games – A fully merged model combining staff rides and war games to enhance decision-making and problem-solving skills.
✔️ Historical Personas for Deeper Engagement – Assigning historical figures to participants, helping them immerse themselves in battlefield decision-making.
✔️ Comparison of Staff Ride Models – A review of international approaches, providing valuable insights for PME institutions worldwide.
These insights reinforce staff rides as essential tools for developing critical thinking, decision-making, and leadership skills in military education.
📖 Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.2478/cmc-2024-0028

New publication: Future Threat Landscapes: The Impact on Intelligence and Security Services

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On 2 February 2025

In Hybrid Threats, Intelligence Analysis, Psycological Defence, Publication

My latest article, “Future Threat Landscapes: The Impact on Intelligence and Security Services”, is now published in Security & Defence Quarterly!
This article examines the evolving nature of antagonistic threats in the context of intelligence and security services, with a focus on small and medium-sized countries. In an era where the line between war and peace is increasingly blurred, intelligence and security services face a rapidly evolving threat environment.

This article examines:

  • The rise of hybrid threats and non-linear warfare
  • The strategic role of AI and machine learning in modern security
  • How intelligence services must adapt to meet multi-domain challenges

As technology and geopolitics shift, resilience, adaptability, and international cooperation will be key to navigating these uncertainties.

Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/197248

#SecurityStudies #HybridThreats #Intelligence #AI #Defence #CyberSecurity #NationalSecurity

New Publication: Hybrid Threats and the Intelligence Community

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On 28 January 2025

In Hybrid Threats, Intelligence Analysis, Psycological Defence, Publication

I am pleased to share our latest article, “Hybrid Threats and the Intelligence Community: Priming for a Volatile Age,” in International Journal for Intelligence and CounterIntelligence co-authored with Niklas Nilsson and Björn Palmertz.

In today’s complex security environment, the intelligence community must address dynamic hybrid threats through coordinated efforts that span multiple sectors. Our research emphasizes the critical interaction between intelligence analysis, communication, and societal resilience.

Key points include:
• The necessity of reciprocal engagement between intelligence actors and key societal stakeholders.
• An introduction of the Intelligence Analysis Interaction Model, which offers a framework for understanding how hybrid threats evolve and for fostering resilience across society.
• Recommendations on developing tools to identify vulnerabilities, build resilience, and formulate comprehensive whole-of-society responses to hybrid threats.

The full article can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2024.2435265

New report on North Macedonia’s Response to Hybrid Threats and Malign Foreign Influence and Interference

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On 29 November 2024

In Hybrid Threats, Psycological Defence, Publication

I am excited to announce that our research project on “Building Resilience and Psychological Defence: Countering Hybrid Threats and Foreign Influence and Interference,” has just published a new report on North Macedonia’s Response to Hybrid Threats and Malign Foreign Influence and Interference in the Psychological Defence Research Institute‘s working paper series. It is authored by Professor Zhidas Daskalovski and Sasho Damjanovski from the Faculty of Security-Skopje, University St. Kliment Ohridski-Bitola, North Macedonia.

This report underscores the urgent need for resilience against hybrid threats in North Macedonia, especially as global security dynamics shift following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Utilizing our previously published framework, it offers in-depth analysis and proposes countermeasures through a holistic approach. Notably, it highlights societal polarization in the Western Balkans and how the intersecting interests of major powers heighten vulnerabilities to foreign interference.

New Publication: Guide to Practical Examination of Practical Learning Activities in PME

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On 14 September 2024

In Professional Military Education (PME), Publication, Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning

I am pleased to share a recent publication I authored: Guide to Practical Examination of Practical Elements: Constructive Alignment in Officer Education.

This guide introduces a model that integrates learning objectives with practical activities and assessments in the training of officer cadets and senior officers within higher education. Its purpose is to demonstrate how constructive alignment can be applied in the practical teaching and assessment of cadets and officers, ensuring compliance with the standards of higher education examination while linking educational objectives, pedagogical activities, and evaluation methods. This approach enables the customization of practical assessments to reflect military professions’ dynamic and practical nature.

The book provides detailed models and examples, ranging from wargames to field exercises, making it an invaluable resource for those involved in officer education and military training.

Key topics include:

  • Constructive alignment in military education
  • Practical assessments for cadets and officers
  • Wargaming and scenario-based learning
  • Field exercises as educational tools

To learn more or access the guide, visit https://doi.org/10.62061/slep1008.

New chapter on the “The Impact of Future Threats on Intelligence and Security Services”

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On 30 August 2024

In Hybrid Threats, Intelligence Analysis, Psycological Defence, Publication

A new anthology on the Future of Intelligence and Security Services in Total Defence [Framtidens säkerhetstjänst i totalförsvaret] has been published by the Centre for Societal Security (CTSS) at the Swedish Defence University. This anthology aims to analyse how modern threat landscapes, new technologies, legislation, NATO membership, and the need for collaboration with other agencies and companies will impact the future operations of military security services and intelligence agencies. Written by some of Sweden’s leading experts in the field, the anthology seeks to describe the challenges facing military security and intelligence services as Sweden rebuilds its total defence and crisis preparedness.

My own contribution is a chapter on “The Impact of Future Threats on Intelligence and Security Services” explores the evolving nature of global security threats, focusing on the increasing complexity of hybrid threats and non-linear warfare. These threats employed by state as well as non-state actors, exploit the blurred boundaries between war and peace. The chapter highlights how traditional military superiority is being challenged by these unconventional methods, which combine cyberattacks, disinformation, and other tactics. It emphasises the need for intelligence and security services to adapt to this changing landscape by understanding and effectively countering these emerging threats.

My chapter can be downloaded here (in Swedish): https://fhs.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1853875&dswid=-4422

The complete book can be downloaded here https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-12320 (in Swedish).

New book on Russian Warfare and Influence

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On 22 July 2024

In Hybrid Threats, Psycological Defence, Publication, Russia

Our new book Russian Warfare and Influence: States in the Intersection between East and West by Bloomsbury Academic is out now! Buy it here https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/russian-warfare-and-influence-9781350335219/# or download it for free https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350335257&st=russian+warfare .

The book addresses the vulnerabilities of these countries to Russian influence and hybrid warfare tactics, as well as their responses to this security challenge. It includes a close examination of local developments in states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Armenia, Serbia and many others, analysing specific scenarios and practices, and draws on these observations to develop the current conceptual understanding of hybrid warfare as a phenomenon. Scholarship frequently focuses only on Russia and treats countries subjected to Russian hybrid measures as passive victims, thus providing an overly schematic picture of Russian behaviour. This book instead treats these states as actors in their own right, assessing their potential to address and counter the specific security problems arising from their geographic and political position.

Table of Contents

1. Russian warfare and influence: States in the proximity of Russia
Mikael Weissmann and Niklas Nilsson

2. Is it still hybrid? Russian aggression against Ukraine
Hanna Shelest

3. Does Russia need a hybrid Belarus policy?
Grigory Ioffe

4. Russia’s influence operations in the Baltic states
Janis Berzinš

5. The vulnerable little brother: Opportunistic partnership and Serbia’s exposure to Russia’s spoiler tactics
Vuk Vuksanovic

6. ‘Kosovo is Serbia’: A case study unpacking how Russia advances (shared) Russian and Serbian interests in the Balkans by shaping perceptions on Kosovo
Dorthe Bach Nyemann

7. Beyond cyber and disinformation: Russian hybrid warfare tactics in Georgia
Kornely Kakachia and Shota Kakabadze

8. Russia’s utilization of unresolved conflicts and proxy regimes
Niklas Nilsson, Johan Engvall and Mikael Weissmann

9. A diverse picture of Russian warfare and influence
Niklas Nilsson and Mikael Weissmann

New report: Building Resilience and Psychological Defence

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On 19 April 2024

In Psycological Defence, Publication

My latest report published by the Psychological Defence Research Institute’s Working Paper series is now available: Building Resilience and Psychological Defence.

It outlines an analytical framework, guidebook, and template addressing six dimensions of hybrid threats and foreign influence and interference from a nation-state perspective. Acknowledging that these types of threats are complex and multifaceted, it is intended to be an analytical starting point for government and non-government actors.

Co-authored with Björn Palmertz, Niklas Nilsson and Johan Engvall.

Full text available here: https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/sites/psychologicaldefence.lu.se/files/2024-03/BuidlingResilienceAndPsychologicalDefence.pdf

New article: Current Intelligence and Assessments: Information Flows and the Tension between Quality and Speed

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On 7 February 2024

In Intelligence Analysis, Publication

Just out in International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, article on “Current Intelligence and Assessments: Information Flows and the Tension between Quality and Speed”.

This article takes a particular interest in the dynamics between information flows, continuous ongoing assessments, intelligence dissemination, and forward-looking operational advice. The point of departure is the tension between balancing quality (in the sense of in-depth processing of large amounts of information) and speed (meeting requirements of timeliness) in current intelligence assessments. The article takes an explorative approach to practices in current intelligence, utilizing qualitative interview data combined with open source material.

NEW BOOK: Advanced Land Warfare: Tactics and Operations

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On 18 April 2023

In Land Warfare, Publication, Urban Warfare

My new co-edited volume on Advamced Land Warfare: Tactics and Operations is just out on Oxford University Press. Download full volume or chapters here: https://academic.oup.com/book/45784  (OPEN ACCESS)

The book:

  • Zeroes in on the evolving role of land forces, focusing particularly on the changes that have taken place in the art of commanding and executing combat and on the role of rapid technological innovation and information dissemination in shaping warfare
  • Revisits established military theory and thinking (some of it neglected in recent years) with lessons learned from contemporary land warfare
  • Provides various perspectives on key contemporary developments in land warfare, while also presenting case studies on land tactics and operations in different national contexts
  • Draws on the knowledge and insights of leading scholars of war and senior officers to provide a current understanding of the central issues of land warfare
  • Explores how land forces remain a crucial feature of warfare as evidenced by recent wars in Ukraine, Syria, Mali, Yemen and Nagorno-Karabak

Table of Contents

Foreword, Dr Meir Finkel
1:Approaching Land Warfare in the 21st Century, Dr Niklas Nilsson and Dr Mikael Weissmann
Part 1: Land Warfare
2:The Future of Manoeuvre Warfare, Dr Christopher Tuck
3:Commanding Contemporary and Future Land Operations: What Role for Mission Command?, Dr Niklas Nilsson
4:Combat Logistics in the 21st Century: Enabling the mobility, endurance, and sustainment of NATO land forces in a future major conflict, Dr Christopher Kinsey and Colonel Ronald Ti
5:The Command of Land Forces, Jim Storr
6:Tactical Tenets: Checklists or Toolboxes, BA Friedman and Henrik Paulsson
7:Urban Warfare: Challenges of Military Operations on Tomorrow’s Battlefield, Dr Mikael Weissmann
8:Emerging Technologies: From Concept to Capability, Dr Jack Watling
9:Interoperability Challenges in an era of Systemic Competition, Air Commodore (Rtd) Andrew Curtis
10:The moral component of fighting: Bringing society back in, Dr Tua Sandman
11:Military Health Services supporting the Land Component in the 21st Century, Gen (Rtd) Professor Martin CM Bricknell
Part 2: Case studies
12:The Operational Cultures of American Ground Forces, Dr Bruce I. Gudmundsson
13:1. People’s Liberation Army Operations and Tactics in the Land Domain: Informationized to Intelligentized Warfare, Brad Marvel
14:A Strategy of Limited Actions: Russia’s Ground-Based Forces in Syria, Dr Markus Balázs Göransson
15:The Role of Israel’s Ground Forces in Israel’s Wars, Dr Eado Hechet and Dr Eitan Shamir
16:Tactics and Trade-Offs: The Evolution of Manoeuvre in the British Army, Dr Alex Neads and Professor David J. Galbreath
17:Caught between a rock and a hard place: the French army, expeditionary warfare and the return of strategic competition, Dr Olivier Schmitt and Dr Elie Tenenbaum
18:Trends in the Land Warfare Capability of Poland and the Visegrad States, 1991-2021, Scott Boston
Conclusions
19:Towards a versatile edge: Developing land forces for future conflict, Dr Mikael Weissmann and Dr Niklas Nilsson

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