Jan Angstrom
Biographic Data
| ID | 1667510 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jan Angstrom |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jan |
| FAMILY NAME | Angstrom |
| SIGNATURE | ANGSTROM J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Swedish Defence University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8722-0134 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Explaining disciplinary heterogeneity in Nordic War/Military Studies
How should the diversity of Nordic War/Military Studies be explained? Despite having experienced similar external shocks to international security since the end of the Cold War, and notwithstanding their relative cultural homogeneity, university environments throughout the Nordic states have developed diverging conceptualizations of War/Military Studies. We demonstrate that this variation can be explained in terms of supply and demand factors in …
Unpacking the varying strategic logics of total defence
What is the strategic logic of so-called 'total defence'? At first glance, total defence may appear as one coherent strategic concept. Indeed, it was predominantly small, non-aligned states that pursued total defence during the Cold War. In this article, however, we demonstrate that depending on how 'total war' is understood, there are subsequently different strategic logics ingrained in total defence. We show this by developing a typology of dif…
Contribution Warfare
Weak party escalation
In this article, we develop the strategic rationale behind weak party escalation against stronger adversaries. There are, we suggest, four main strategies: to provoke a desired over-reaction from the stronger adversary; to compartmentalize conflict within a domain in which the weak party has advantages; to carve a niche with a stronger ally, and to forge a reputation of not yielding lightly. Spelling out these different logics contributes to the …
The US perspective on future war
This article addresses why the US in its military operations tends to focus on only one dimension in war – the military narrowly understood. More precisely, in the US case, its armed forces tend to be preoccupied with platforms and understand military capabilities as those that deliver death and destruction. I explain this one-sided understanding of the military dimension in war with how the US armed forces think about future war. How the US unde…
Why small states join big wars
The security behavior of small states has traditionally been explained by different takes of realism, liberalism, or constructivism - focusing on the behavior that aims toward safeguarding sovereignty or engaging in peace policies. The issue of why states with limited military capacities and little or no military alignments or engagements decide to participate in an international mission has received limited attention by previous research. In con…
Escalation, Emulation, and the Failure of Hybrid Warfare in Afghanistan
In this article, I argue that hybridization is a contingent result of the dynamics of some conflicts but not others. In particular, faced with opponents with great power, weaker powers seek a situation of asymmetry to gain victory. Drawing on within-case analysis of the conduct of war during the past thirty years in Afghanistan, I demonstrate that what we now consider to be “hybrid” represents an important continuity and strategic option in Afgha…
Religion or reason? exploring alternative ways to measure the quality of doctrine
In this article, we address the often ignored issue of quality standards for doctrine. In doing so, we contribute to the existing literature on military doctrine, since much of previous research has focused on outlining the effects of doctrine or the causes of particular doctrinal content, rather than how we should measure its quality. The predominant way of understanding quality of doctrine is based on the rationalist understanding of doctrine a…
State theory and statebuilding
On 22 June 2011 President Barack Obama decided to begin the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. By September 2012 just over 30,000 of the roughly 100,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan will have rotated home. Over the coming years US forces will gradually continue the withdrawal and, according to the current plan, all Western forces are supposed to have left Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after a more than a decade- long intervention. The decis…
The changing norms of civil and military and civil-military relations theory
The dichotomy between civil and military is well-established in international political practice. International law, international order, and war are but some of the institutions that rely upon making a distinction between civil and military. The distinction, arguably, is also central for analyses of conflicts worldwide. Almost daily, we are fed stories of atrocities against civilians in conflict-ridden parts of the world. In academic discourse, …
Adopting a Recipe for Success
The prevailing explanation of the institutionalization of the principles of war is misleading. Although the introduction of the principles into Western doctrine coincided with total war and the need to train unprecedented numbers of soldiers and junior officers in tactics, the fact that the principles disappeared from doctrines immediately prior to and during the Second World War suggests that they were not institutionalized to meet an increased …
Regaining Strategy
In Western operations in Afghanistan, small European powers escalate in different ways. While Denmark and the Netherlands have contributed to Western escalation through integration with British and US forces, Norway and Sweden have done so by creating a division of labour allowing US and British combat forces to concentrate their efforts in the south. These variations in strategic behaviour suggest that the strategic choice of small powers is mor…
Mapping the Competing Historical Analogies of the War on Terrorism
This article maps the historical analogies of the war on terrorism used by the Bush administration. It identifies four historical analogies of the war on terrorism present in the US political and academic discourse since the attacks on 11 September 2001. These are the war on terrorism as: (a) the Second World War; (b) the Crusades; (c) the Vietnam War; and (d) the Cold War. These analogies have been a constant presence in the US discourse, althou…
Inviting the Leviathan
This article examines the role of intervening forces in state-building efforts after state-collapse and civil wars. Based upon a case study from the 30 years of war in Afghanistan, it develops an explanation for failure of state-building attempts drawing upon bargaining theory, macrosociological state-building theory, and strategic thought. The explanation suggests that international state-building attempts condition and shapes a new strategic en…
Introduction
What is the utility of force in modern conflict? This article introduce the overall puzzle of this special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies. In doing so, it identifies some trends in the development of strategic thought since the end of the cold war. By elaborating on some of the paradoxes of modern military power and the use of force, it also provides a more detailed outline of the articles in this issue
Survival of the Most Cited? Small Political Science Communities and International Influence
Can small scholarly communities, such as the Swedish political science community, survive in an academic world often said to be dominated not only by American research but also by American concerns? Does the political science profession in Sweden, a small country with a rather odd (!) language, few political science departments, and few members of the national political science association, have a unique independent Swedish identity - or is curre…
Towards a typology of internal armed conflict
The rejuvenated study of internal armed conflict after the Cold War has been plagued with conceptual turmoil. This article argues that this lack of consensus can be explained by the variable nature of the topic itself and that the topic has fallen between disciplinary boundaries. The lack of consensus itself can have damaging effects on our understanding of internal armed conflict. The article therefore outlines a suggested, partly modified, typo…
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
(2001). The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 59-69
Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict
(2001). Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict: The case of Liberia. Security Studies: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 186-218
The sociology of studies of ethnic conflict
Is security a pre‐condition for development or is development a precondition for security? Since World War II, scholars studying ethnic conflict have answered this question differently. In reviewing the literature on development and ethnic conflict, this article introduces ideas derived from the sociology of science to explain the lack of consensus. Accordingly, the article suggests that this variation should not be understood as a reflection of …
Mapping the Competing Historical Analogies of the War on Terrorism
This article maps the historical analogies of the war on terrorism used by the Bush administration. It identifies four historical analogies of the war on terrorism present in the US political and academic discourse since the attacks on 11 September 2001. These are the war on terrorism as: (a) the Second World War; (b) the Crusades; (c) the Vietnam War; and (d) the Cold War. These analogies have been a constant presence in the US discourse, althou…
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
(2001). The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 59-69
Religion or reason? exploring alternative ways to measure the quality of doctrine
In this article, we address the often ignored issue of quality standards for doctrine. In doing so, we contribute to the existing literature on military doctrine, since much of previous research has focused on outlining the effects of doctrine or the causes of particular doctrinal content, rather than how we should measure its quality. The predominant way of understanding quality of doctrine is based on the rationalist understanding of doctrine a…
The US perspective on future war
This article addresses why the US in its military operations tends to focus on only one dimension in war – the military narrowly understood. More precisely, in the US case, its armed forces tend to be preoccupied with platforms and understand military capabilities as those that deliver death and destruction. I explain this one-sided understanding of the military dimension in war with how the US armed forces think about future war. How the US unde…
The changing norms of civil and military and civil-military relations theory
The dichotomy between civil and military is well-established in international political practice. International law, international order, and war are but some of the institutions that rely upon making a distinction between civil and military. The distinction, arguably, is also central for analyses of conflicts worldwide. Almost daily, we are fed stories of atrocities against civilians in conflict-ridden parts of the world. In academic discourse, …
Regaining Strategy
In Western operations in Afghanistan, small European powers escalate in different ways. While Denmark and the Netherlands have contributed to Western escalation through integration with British and US forces, Norway and Sweden have done so by creating a division of labour allowing US and British combat forces to concentrate their efforts in the south. These variations in strategic behaviour suggest that the strategic choice of small powers is mor…
Inviting the Leviathan
This article examines the role of intervening forces in state-building efforts after state-collapse and civil wars. Based upon a case study from the 30 years of war in Afghanistan, it develops an explanation for failure of state-building attempts drawing upon bargaining theory, macrosociological state-building theory, and strategic thought. The explanation suggests that international state-building attempts condition and shapes a new strategic en…
Survival of the Most Cited? Small Political Science Communities and International Influence
Can small scholarly communities, such as the Swedish political science community, survive in an academic world often said to be dominated not only by American research but also by American concerns? Does the political science profession in Sweden, a small country with a rather odd (!) language, few political science departments, and few members of the national political science association, have a unique independent Swedish identity - or is curre…
Towards a typology of internal armed conflict
The rejuvenated study of internal armed conflict after the Cold War has been plagued with conceptual turmoil. This article argues that this lack of consensus can be explained by the variable nature of the topic itself and that the topic has fallen between disciplinary boundaries. The lack of consensus itself can have damaging effects on our understanding of internal armed conflict. The article therefore outlines a suggested, partly modified, typo…
Introduction
What is the utility of force in modern conflict? This article introduce the overall puzzle of this special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies. In doing so, it identifies some trends in the development of strategic thought since the end of the cold war. By elaborating on some of the paradoxes of modern military power and the use of force, it also provides a more detailed outline of the articles in this issue
Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict
(2001). Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict: The case of Liberia. Security Studies: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 186-218
The sociology of studies of ethnic conflict
Is security a pre‐condition for development or is development a precondition for security? Since World War II, scholars studying ethnic conflict have answered this question differently. In reviewing the literature on development and ethnic conflict, this article introduces ideas derived from the sociology of science to explain the lack of consensus. Accordingly, the article suggests that this variation should not be understood as a reflection of …
Escalation, Emulation, and the Failure of Hybrid Warfare in Afghanistan
In this article, I argue that hybridization is a contingent result of the dynamics of some conflicts but not others. In particular, faced with opponents with great power, weaker powers seek a situation of asymmetry to gain victory. Drawing on within-case analysis of the conduct of war during the past thirty years in Afghanistan, I demonstrate that what we now consider to be “hybrid” represents an important continuity and strategic option in Afgha…
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
The sociology of studies of ethnic conflict
Is security a pre‐condition for development or is development a precondition for security? Since World War II, scholars studying ethnic conflict have answered this question differently. In reviewing the literature on development and ethnic conflict, this article introduces ideas derived from the sociology of science to explain the lack of consensus. Accordingly, the article suggests that this variation should not be understood as a reflection of …
Towards a typology of internal armed conflict
The rejuvenated study of internal armed conflict after the Cold War has been plagued with conceptual turmoil. This article argues that this lack of consensus can be explained by the variable nature of the topic itself and that the topic has fallen between disciplinary boundaries. The lack of consensus itself can have damaging effects on our understanding of internal armed conflict. The article therefore outlines a suggested, partly modified, typo…
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict
(2001). The International Dimensions of Ethnic Conflict. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism: Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 59-69
Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict
(2001). Evaluating realist explanations of internal conflict: The case of Liberia. Security Studies: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 186-218
Survival of the Most Cited? Small Political Science Communities and International Influence
Can small scholarly communities, such as the Swedish political science community, survive in an academic world often said to be dominated not only by American research but also by American concerns? Does the political science profession in Sweden, a small country with a rather odd (!) language, few political science departments, and few members of the national political science association, have a unique independent Swedish identity - or is curre…
Inviting the Leviathan
This article examines the role of intervening forces in state-building efforts after state-collapse and civil wars. Based upon a case study from the 30 years of war in Afghanistan, it develops an explanation for failure of state-building attempts drawing upon bargaining theory, macrosociological state-building theory, and strategic thought. The explanation suggests that international state-building attempts condition and shapes a new strategic en…
Introduction
What is the utility of force in modern conflict? This article introduce the overall puzzle of this special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies. In doing so, it identifies some trends in the development of strategic thought since the end of the cold war. By elaborating on some of the paradoxes of modern military power and the use of force, it also provides a more detailed outline of the articles in this issue
Mapping the Competing Historical Analogies of the War on Terrorism
This article maps the historical analogies of the war on terrorism used by the Bush administration. It identifies four historical analogies of the war on terrorism present in the US political and academic discourse since the attacks on 11 September 2001. These are the war on terrorism as: (a) the Second World War; (b) the Crusades; (c) the Vietnam War; and (d) the Cold War. These analogies have been a constant presence in the US discourse, althou…
Adopting a Recipe for Success
The prevailing explanation of the institutionalization of the principles of war is misleading. Although the introduction of the principles into Western doctrine coincided with total war and the need to train unprecedented numbers of soldiers and junior officers in tactics, the fact that the principles disappeared from doctrines immediately prior to and during the Second World War suggests that they were not institutionalized to meet an increased …
Regaining Strategy
In Western operations in Afghanistan, small European powers escalate in different ways. While Denmark and the Netherlands have contributed to Western escalation through integration with British and US forces, Norway and Sweden have done so by creating a division of labour allowing US and British combat forces to concentrate their efforts in the south. These variations in strategic behaviour suggest that the strategic choice of small powers is mor…
State theory and statebuilding
On 22 June 2011 President Barack Obama decided to begin the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. By September 2012 just over 30,000 of the roughly 100,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan will have rotated home. Over the coming years US forces will gradually continue the withdrawal and, according to the current plan, all Western forces are supposed to have left Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after a more than a decade- long intervention. The decis…
The changing norms of civil and military and civil-military relations theory
The dichotomy between civil and military is well-established in international political practice. International law, international order, and war are but some of the institutions that rely upon making a distinction between civil and military. The distinction, arguably, is also central for analyses of conflicts worldwide. Almost daily, we are fed stories of atrocities against civilians in conflict-ridden parts of the world. In academic discourse, …
Escalation, Emulation, and the Failure of Hybrid Warfare in Afghanistan
In this article, I argue that hybridization is a contingent result of the dynamics of some conflicts but not others. In particular, faced with opponents with great power, weaker powers seek a situation of asymmetry to gain victory. Drawing on within-case analysis of the conduct of war during the past thirty years in Afghanistan, I demonstrate that what we now consider to be “hybrid” represents an important continuity and strategic option in Afgha…
Religion or reason? exploring alternative ways to measure the quality of doctrine
In this article, we address the often ignored issue of quality standards for doctrine. In doing so, we contribute to the existing literature on military doctrine, since much of previous research has focused on outlining the effects of doctrine or the causes of particular doctrinal content, rather than how we should measure its quality. The predominant way of understanding quality of doctrine is based on the rationalist understanding of doctrine a…
Why small states join big wars
The security behavior of small states has traditionally been explained by different takes of realism, liberalism, or constructivism - focusing on the behavior that aims toward safeguarding sovereignty or engaging in peace policies. The issue of why states with limited military capacities and little or no military alignments or engagements decide to participate in an international mission has received limited attention by previous research. In con…
The US perspective on future war
This article addresses why the US in its military operations tends to focus on only one dimension in war – the military narrowly understood. More precisely, in the US case, its armed forces tend to be preoccupied with platforms and understand military capabilities as those that deliver death and destruction. I explain this one-sided understanding of the military dimension in war with how the US armed forces think about future war. How the US unde…
Weak party escalation
In this article, we develop the strategic rationale behind weak party escalation against stronger adversaries. There are, we suggest, four main strategies: to provoke a desired over-reaction from the stronger adversary; to compartmentalize conflict within a domain in which the weak party has advantages; to carve a niche with a stronger ally, and to forge a reputation of not yielding lightly. Spelling out these different logics contributes to the …
Contribution Warfare
Unpacking the varying strategic logics of total defence
What is the strategic logic of so-called 'total defence'? At first glance, total defence may appear as one coherent strategic concept. Indeed, it was predominantly small, non-aligned states that pursued total defence during the Cold War. In this article, however, we demonstrate that depending on how 'total war' is understood, there are subsequently different strategic logics ingrained in total defence. We show this by developing a typology of dif…
Explaining disciplinary heterogeneity in Nordic War/Military Studies
How should the diversity of Nordic War/Military Studies be explained? Despite having experienced similar external shocks to international security since the end of the Cold War, and notwithstanding their relative cultural homogeneity, university environments throughout the Nordic states have developed diverging conceptualizations of War/Military Studies. We demonstrate that this variation can be explained in terms of supply and demand factors in …
Political science (19 works) · Law (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Political economy (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Politics (10 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (8 works) · Military History and Strategy (6 works)