Swedish National Defence College

About: Swedish National Defence College is a education organization based out in Stockholm, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Crisis management & European union. The organization has 218 authors who have published 569 publications receiving 8074 citations.

Only Trees Burning? The Mid-Sweden Forest Fire of 2014

Abstract: The major forest fire in the province of Vastmanland, during August of 2014 was an unexpected incident. The environmental prerequisites for a firestorm type of development that is present in exempli gratia Greece, and California should not exist in the subarctic biotope that caught fire on July 31 at Seglingsberg in Sala municipality. The aim of this chapter, Swedish crisis management effort in response to a forest fire in central Sweden, in 2014. In order to do so, it probes a number of challenges that were posed to the crisis response system, such as situational awareness, formal responsibilities, coordination with local and national actors, information to the public and evacuation

How to Operationalize C2 Agility

Abstract: Alberts has offered a definition of agility and its constituent components. This paper describes where in the C2 system, or the force, the different agility requirements will have to be met, and ho ...

The Current Crisis in the Persian Gulf in the Context of Hybrid Warfare

Abstract: The Middle East, or New Middle East as it also has become known after the Arab Spring of 2011, is going through seminal geographical and political changes and challenges. In the end, the Arab Spring did not lead to the advent of an Arab renaissance of democracy and good governance but only to increased regional instability. The latter has been highlighted by the rise of Islamic State (IS), firstly in Syria and Iraq, and then Libya, where it managed to exploit the vacuum left after Qaddafi. This short contribution discusses the present crisis within the context of security and conflict-related observations from the region, being played out through hybrid warfare, concluding with a brief synopsis of Qatar’s potential countermeasures.

Are Peacekeeping Missions Inevitably Stressful

Abstract: The degree to which peacekeeping missions impact perceived stress, cognitive performance and cortisol levels: a longitudinal study. Military deployment is often associated with stress. Learning more about deployment stress is relevant for developing both preventive and reactive strategies for managing stress. This study addresses stress before, during and after a peacekeeping mission. Data were collected on perceived stress and the stress biomarker cortisol. A total of 41 soldiers were assessed at three points (prior to deployment, during deployment and at homecoming). Soldiers’ perceived stress, cognitive performance and biomarkers were measured. Contrary to our hypothesis that stress accumulates during deployment, leading to increased perceived stress and levels of cortisol (as measured in the morning by the cortisol awakening response, or CAR), and to decreased results on cognitive tests, the results show that the levels of perceived stress were lower during deployment than before and after deployment, as measured by the soldiers’ pre- and post-deployment scores. The soldiers also had a reduced CAR response at homecoming compared to their pre-deployment levels. The results indicate that peacekeeping missions may contain stress-mitigating factors that have previously been underestimated. Further research addressing stress-mitigating factors might allow a deeper understanding of the deployment environment and, subsequently, new methods of promoting soldiers’ well-being and maintaining high combat fitness.