Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen

Current research

What if the military was a business? Military strategy normally deals with winning a campaign, but seldom deals with the organisation and costs of the military organisation itself. In a time of austerity that question is more relevant than ever. Taking my point of departure in American and British examples my research projects deals with what strategic studies can learn from business studies

Primary fields of research

Strategy is something you do; and doing strategy is increasingly a challenge in and of itself for those politicians, officials and military officers tasked with strategizing.

Based on my recent concrete experiences with the challenges in strategizing and utilising business theories of strategy, this project will analyse the current problem of strategy and seek to enable more coherent and effective strategizing.

The projects aim to have a high impact in terms of academic publication as well as in policy terms. I will use my experience and expertise to engage policy-makers and shape ideas and innovate policy on the basis of my findings. This engagement will include writing op-eds, using social media and be available to interviews etc. in electronic media.

Strategic Leadership: Design and Decisions

This work package focuses on the crisis of strategic leadership in Western national security and explains the rise of design strategy as attempt to address this crisis. I will have a special focus on military affairs, with a point of departure in the US military. The point of departure will be the understanding that strategic leadership in national security, particularly in defence, can benefit from insights gained from the study of strategic leadership in business. As such, this work package engages the recent trend of merging insights business and military strategy.

Strategizing by Numbers: Metrics and Management

The NATO countries commitment to spending two percent of GNP on defence and twenty percent of the defence budget on procurement is framing the debate on the European allies ability to address current security challenges and risks, including Russia, and has become the centre for the traditional burden sharing debate between the United States and Europe. This work package will analyse how such metrics shape the notions of what is an adequate defence posture arguing that it reinforces entrenched ways of conceptualising military force. Instead of being a yardstick of defence reform, the two percent commitment becomes an argument for ring-fencing existing structures and procurement patterns. This work package engages with the literature on evaluation and management by metrics arguing that insights from how metrics is used in public governance in general can fruitfully be used for the study of military/security governance.

The History of Global Strategy: Scenarios and Security

Global warming, the rise of China, Russian resurgence and a number of other trends are defining security discourse. The future is present in a security discourse that focuses on scenarios for how trends become threats. This work package will trace how this way of thinking was born in the beginning of the twentieth century when an increase in global interconnectedness and technological development made strategizing about what might be the result of these developments. At that time the concern was the rise of Russia, Germany and the United States, and the telegraph, the railway and rapid industrialisation were the driving force between the concerns in the London and Paris of how the balance of power was shifting. It is the concern with these shifts in power and the strategies developed to deal with them which is the focus of this project as it tracks the history of global strategy. This work package will give a conceptual and historical perspective to current debates about scenarios and security placing these debates on a more coherent theoretical footing as well as using a historical perceptive to address the more alarmist scenarios.

Strategizing Europe and the High North

The resurgence of Russian power has put a number of changes in the security landscape of Northern Europe and the High North into focus. This work package will use insight from the other work packages to a number of specific, policy-studies of challenges and opportunities for European and Danish security strategy. A particular focus will be deterrence in the Baltic and developments in the Arctic.

Teaching

My offie hours for students are Thursday 9-10. Not during holidays and only during term

Knowledge of languages

English
German
Scandinavian Languages 

CV

Professor Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen is a distinguished scholar in international relations and defence studies at the University of Copenhagen. A prolific author and respected policy advisor, he has made significant contributions to strategic studies, defence policy, and international security.

Academic Leadership

• Dean and Head of Department at the University of Copenhagen (2016-2024)
• Director of the Centre for Military Studies (2009-2014)
• Head of the Danish Institute for Military Studies (2006-2009)

Policy-Making Leadership

• Head of Strategy and Policy Office, Danish Ministry of Defence (2014-2015)
• Chairman of the Board, INVI - Institute for Wicked Problems (2023-)
• Head of Centre for Military Studies (2009-2014)
• Project Director, Danish Institute for International Affairs

Key Publications

• The Military's Business (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
• The Risk Society at War (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
• The West, Civil Society and the Construction of Peace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

Policy-Making Experience

Professor Rasmussen has been a key advisor to national and international defence and foreign policy institutions:

• Lead author of strategic analysis for Danish Defence Bill (2010-2015)
• Member of government committee on the future of conscription in Denmark (2011-2012)
• Member of the Danish Defence Commission (2008)
• Authored white paper on Danish defence policy (2004)
• Provided expert testimony to Danish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees
• Consulted by Norwegian Foreign Ministry on future foreign policy strategies
• Presented to NATO Military Committee and briefed NATO Secretary General
• Advised on critical policy areas including:

• Danish defence procurement
• Arctic defence posture
• Strategic adaptation in international missions
• Risk management in national security

Media and Public Engagement

• Columnist for Weekendavisen
• Host of geopolitical podcast GeoPol
• Frequent commentator on international relations and defence policy
• Lectures at prestigious international institutions, including Chatham House and London School of Economics

Academic Contributions

• Teaches at the University of Copenhagen
• Widely published in peer-reviewed journals on defence, security, and international relations
• PhD Evaluation Committees:

• University of Copenhagen
• University of Oslo
• Royal Holloway
• London School of Economics
• University of Aarhus
• King's College London
• Royal Danish Defence College
• Tartu University

• Secured large-scale funding for high-impact public policy studies on defence. Secured Danish Ministry of Defence funding (1.4 Euro per year since 2011) for a university think tank on military studies
• Developed research centre into a global top twenty university think tank

Awards, Honourable Mentions, and Professional Body Memberships

• Academic Advisory Board at the German Council of Foreign Relations (2020-2025)
• Listed in Krak's Blå Bog (Danish Who is Who) (2010-present)
• Board of Governors at the Danish Foreign Policy Society (2012-2014)
• Advisory Board of the Danish Atlantic Treaty Association (2005-present)
• Board of the Nordic International Studies Association (2001-2003)
• Teaching Award, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen (2001)

Education

• Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Copenhagen
• MSc in Political Science, University of Copenhagen
• MSc in International Relations, London School of Economics