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As an organization operating under extreme conditions, the military is often confronted with destructive behavior from individuals, organizations, and societies. Written by experts from a variety of disciplines, this open access book reflects on confrontations with violence under extreme conditions and the various challenges that arise. By examining real first-hand accounts of soldiers' deployments, the contributions shed new light on the multifaceted and sometimes hidden dynamics of destructive violent behavior and offer an ethical reflection on military practices. In addition, they address topics such as moral decision-making in violent contexts, military trauma, organizational change, and military ethics education. The interdisciplinary exploration of these topics has been the primary focus of Désirée Verweij, who was the Chair of Military Ethics at the Netherlands Defence Academy from 2008 to 2021. The contributions in this book are written in honor of her scholarly achievements and help to ensure that these important issues continue to receive attention. The book will appeal to scholars of military studies, organizational studies and military ethics, and to professionals and decisionmakers in military organizations.

1. Introduction -- Multi – and interdisciplinary reflections on violence and military ethics -- 2. Language and violence -- 3. Military trauma and the conflicted human condition: Moral injury as a window into violence, human nature and military ethics -- 4. Exploring the relevance of the systems psychodynamic approach to military organizations -- Recent cases and developments -- 5. Instrumental morality under a gaze: Israeli soldiers reasoning on doing "good" -- 6. Soldiers as street level bureaucrats? Military Discretionary Autonomy and Moral Professionalism in a Police Perspective -- 7. The Future of the Comprehensive Approach as a Strategy for Intervention -- Some answers to current challenges -- 8. Contemporary just war thinking and military education -- 9. Educating for restraint -- 10. The e-word (emotions) in military moral education: Making use of the dual-process model of moral psychology -- 11. The Dutch approach to ethics: Integrity management in the military -- Epilogue -- 12. 'Moresfare' and the resilience paradox: Ethics as the terra incognita of hybrid warfare and its challenges -- 13. Concluding reflections.

In this article, abduction is introduced in relation to theorizing in grounded theory. Theoretical insights are inevitable cornerstones of the development of a grounded theory and abduction is worked out as a type of inference that characterizes this development. How abduction could be used in grounded theorizing is shown in a grounded theory research on 'organizing doubt', i.e. the way Dutch army units are formed with self-organizing capabilities that can be deployed during crisis operations. The authors show that two concepts from organizational theory that are central in this grounded theory's analytical framework - i.e. 'dynamic complexity' and 'self-organization' - are developed and embedded in a substantive theory on 'organizing doubt' by abductive reasoning.

Peace operations involving modern armed forces require a system of command in which responsibilities and authorities are delegated throughout the command line: mission command. Although mission command is popular in theory, in practice commanders appear to have problems with the delegation of authority. This study analyzed the practice of mission command in four Dutch case studies. The main analysis shows a relation between the granting of autonomy to subordinate commanders, on the one hand, and the clarity of the objectives, the appropriateness of the means, and the mutual trust between commanders at different levels, on the other. Further analysis shows that the possession of good communication means, the slow pace of operations, the development of routines, the required safety of personnel, the political sensitivity, and the deployment of mixed units are obstacles to mission command as well. The conclusion is that mission command is hard to implement.

AbstractBoin (2019) argues that in transboundary crisis management it is almost impossible to achieve centralization and coordination. This article identifies three principles through which actors in a transboundary crisis can balance centralization with autonomy while shaping coordination along the way. We reanalysed three transboundary cases: the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan, the downing of MH17 and hurricane Irma striking Sint‐Maarten. The principles we found are as follows: (a) reformulating key strategic priorities, (b) flexible adaptation of crisis management protocols and (c) the emergence of multifunctional units. With these three principles, we reflect on challenges in the Dutch crisis response to the corona outbreak and propose improvements for progressing current crisis management efforts.

Boin (2019) argues that in transboundary crisis management it is almost impossible to achieve centralization and coordination. This article identifies three principles through which actors in a transboundary crisis can balance centralization with autonomy while shaping coordination along the way. We reanalysed three transboundary cases: the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan, the downing of MH17 and hurricane Irma striking Sint‐Maarten. The principles we found are as follows: (a) reformulating key strategic priorities, (b) flexible adaptation of crisis management protocols and (c) the emergence of multifunctional units. With these three principles, we reflect on challenges in the Dutch crisis response to the corona outbreak and propose improvements for progressing current crisis management efforts.

Many militaries envision a technologically advanced future with a strong innovative capability and therefore invest in so-called innovation hubs focused on experimenting with new modes of operation with drones and (semi-)autonomous vehicles. However, there appears to be a discrepancy between these military visions and soldiers' lived experiences on the ground. This article presents an ethnographic study of one innovation hub: the Robots and Autonomous Systems unit of the Dutch Army. Examining this unit through an analytical framework of sociotechnical imaginaries and expectations, we first outline how "innovation" and "military" imaginaries are integrated so that technological innovation is presented as necessary, desirable, and inevitable for military futures. Second, we explore soldiers' experiences of military innovation, identifying friction between the strategic and operational levels. At the strategic level, soldiers experience meaning and purpose in their work whereas, at the operational level, soldiers' expectations, practices, and experiences do not align with the "innovative military future" imaginary, resulting in disillusionment. With this empirical study, we contribute to a better understanding of how large-scale visions of technological "progress" play out in military practice.

Part I Institutional Settings and Change Processes -- Chapter 1. Governing Academic Education and Research in the Military in the Context of University Reforms -- Chapter 2. Making the Academic Turn: How Bottom-up Initiatives Drove Education Reform at the Netherlands Defence Academy -- Chapter 3. Character Is (the) Key! The Application of Virtue Ethics to Improve Officers' Education -- Chapter 4. A Performative Account of the Use of Oaths to Enhance Integrity within the Military -- Part II Educational Philosophy -- Chapter 5. Officer Bildung: A Philosophical Investigation of Preconditions for Military Character Education -- Chapter 6. A Critical Appraisal of the Bildung Ideal in Military Ethics Education -- Chapter 7. Reflective Practice in Synthetic Expeditionary Task Forces -- Chapter 8. From Thinking Soldiers to Reflecting Officers - Facts and Reflections on Officers' Education -- Chapter 9. Five Critical Success Factors for Coaching. A Perspective on Educating Reflective Practitioners -- Chapter 10. Mindfulness in the Dutch Military - Train your Brain -- Chapter 11. The Impact of Educational Characteristics on the Development of Cadets from Novices to Experts -- Chapter 12. Determinants of Academic Performance in Bachelor Theses: Evidence from the Faculty of Military Sciences at the Netherlands Defence Academy -- Part III Didactical Solutions -- Chapter 13. Iconic Images and Military Education: A Delicate Relationship -- Chapter 14. Bologna Meets the Battlefield - Using Historical Battlefields in Modern Academic Military Education -- Chapter 15. The Staff Ride as Reflective Practicum - Impressions and Experiences of the Faculty of Military Sciences and Maynooth University -- Chapter 16. Policy for Cadets and Midshipmen - Teaching Dutch Security and Defence Policy at the Netherlands Defence Academy -- Chapter 17. Legal Education: A Matter of Motivation? An Overview of Aspects of Legal Education for Officers -- Chapter 18. Military Engineering – Practice, Education and Research in The Netherlands; The Golden Triangle -- Part IV International Perspectives -- Chapter 19. A European Army of Thinking Soldiers - European Academic Officers' Education: Challenges and Opportunities -- Chapter 20. Lilliputians Divided: How Service Statutes Fragment Lithuanian Security Services -- Chapter 21. What Sets the Officer Apart? Dutch and Danish Educational Reforms Leading to the Habitus of the Thinking Soldier -- Epilogue