Martijn Kitzen has been appointed professor by special appointment of Military Science: 'It's time for Europe to make a stand'
Interview
Martijn Kitzen, who has years of experience as former military with multiple deployments and as a professor at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), has been appointed professor by special appointment of Military Science at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Society for War Studies (KVBK) from 1 January.
Welcome back to your Alma Mater! What is your background?
‘I started at the Royal Military Academy (KMA) and became an officer,’ Kitzen begins. 'The day I received my officer's bull, I immediately started studying political science in Leiden. Because I wanted to understand more about the world I was entering and in which I would be acting, I wanted to study international relations and political decision-making.'
'And that was quite tough, because I was primarily an officer in the army. During my studies, I was then also deployed. Back then, there was no such thing as part-time study. In 2000, while studying political science, I was deployed to Cyprus for the UN mission UNFICYP. In this classic peacekeeping mission, I led an international group of soldiers, all in all a very good learning experience.'
About Martijn Kitzen
Martijn Kitzen has worked as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and has been involved in evaluations of Dutch contributions to missions in Afghanistan and Mali, among others. He received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2016 with a historical dissertation on cooperation between soldiers and local populations in conflict zones.
In addition, he has published several books, including Oorlog onder de mensen (Dutch, translated to: War among the people) in 2016. His most recent book is Into the Void Special Operations Forces after the War on Terror. In April 2025, a new book will be released in collaboration with Tim Sweijs (Director of Research HCSS) on the war of tomorrow. In this book, they discuss the character of future conflicts and analyse how the Netherlands can prepare for them.
Kitzen is also currently professor of Irregular Warfare & Special Operations at the Netherlands Defence Academy in Breda. From 1 January, his chair has been established by the KVBK at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA).
What was your motivation to become an professor by special appointment?
'For my PhD research, I conducted fieldwork in Afghanistan. To make that possible, I temporarily rejoined the military. This also allowed me to advise the commander of the Dutch mission. That was a great period during which I really noticed how science can contribute to military operations on the ground through the insights you gain and share. When you spend all day immersed in research, certain insights become second nature. However, someone engaged in daily operations exists in a completely different reality. With sharing scientific insights, you can take someone who is full into operations out of the delusion of the day and say, ‘Hey, have you thought about this?’ And that led to some great solutions.'
‘How can you use science to get a better understanding of military operations?'
'I devised a system that allowed Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan to approach the population in a more unified way and cooperate more with local leaders. This led to these soldiers gaining a better information position by cooperating with the local population. Furthermore, a better assessment could be made of whether the Taliban was the problem somewhere or whether there were local struggles between different tribes. This experience was the basis for further research.'
Lecture
On 20 March, Martijn Kitzen will give a lecture (Dutch) at Wijnhaven organised by KVBK in cooperation with the university. In this lecture, he will discuss the focus of his chair: the operational deployment of the armed forces. Read more on the KVBK website, where you can also register.
What are your plans for the endowed chair?
‘It is truly an honour to have been given this position and to follow in the footsteps of Frans Osinga as a KVBK professor,’ he said. Fortunately, he will stay on for a while as professor at ISGA. 'I have also enjoyed working with him in Breda and we will continue that now. My focus within the military sciences is the operational deployment of the armed forces. How do we deploy the armed forces in the Netherlands and how do other Western countries do it? What kind of tasks now lie ahead for the armed forces in today's very turbulent international security situation? In fact, the world seems to be changing every day at the moment.'
According to Kitzen, military science plays a crucial role in this: educating people who are essential in contributing to these changes. 'Maintaining the flexibility of the armed forces, which is vital in future conflicts, is in the hands of leaders. It is unrealistic to fully prepare the Netherlands for all possible scenarios, from conventional wars to hybrid warfare, but we must ensure that we can move quickly. This requires a flexible mindset shorn of martial science knowledge and insights. That way, policymakers and implementers can quickly deal with different scenarios of future conflicts. In addition, such a knowledge base enables people to monitor the armed forces in the right way.'
What is the focus of your research?
'I am going to focus my research on the strategic competition that is going on now. Very important for this is the threat from China and Russia. Prime Minister Schoof has expressed that the Netherlands would like to play a role in a possible force to control a truce in Ukraine. But what will that look like? What can we learn from operations from the past 20 years?
I dare say that, above all, we need to have a very clear goal in mind: what do we want to achieve with this kind of operation? The past 20 years have shown that there were no clear goals or mandate and that the discussion was mainly about means. You saw this again in the recent discussion about a possible European force in Ukraine.
'I dare say that, above all, we need to have a very clear goal in mind'
I have seen with my own eyes that Russia and China are getting a better grip on local societies in Africa. Can we counter that at all? We see in Africa, for example, Russian mercenaries and special forces being used to gain influence and secure resources. There is also a major information war, in which the Russians are successfully spreading the image of Europeans as white colonisers through social media. What can we in the West do in return?'
What are your views on the recent developments around Trump and NATO?
'Russia likes to play on the current instability around us. It is therefore extra important that we can act with unity of effort. Trump's recent statements and behaviour, show that it is precisely in Europe that we need to come together and take control of our security ourselves. It is time to stop merely talking about taking a stand and actually take a stand as Europe! And I am not yet convinced that we will truly do so. When I look around me, however, I see that colleagues, alumni, and students are ready to contribute with military science expertise to strengthening European defence and strategic autonomy.'
'Russia likes to play on the current instability around us'
What would you like to pass on to students?
'Keep an open mind, but at the same time be aware of the source of information, ask yourself if you are influenced and approach all parties critically. I would especially like to compliment the students. I regularly give guest lectures, which is really rewarding work. Good questions are always asked, which makes for a lot of participation and interesting discussions. A few months ago, for example, I gave a guest lecture in a subject taught by Frans Osinga. Frans and I started the lecture with a spontaneous hour-long discussion with the students about the situation in Lebanon at that time. There were many different opinions that we were able to bring together to see how to approach and interpret this from my knowledge of military science. That's an incredibly nice thing to be able to do.'