Sten Rynning

I am a professor of war studies with a passion for transatlantic security and NATO affairs. Had I not drifted into war studies, I would probably have become a historian, or perhaps a mediocre road cyclist! In my work I assess how power is directed and shaped by ideas, and how these ideas are rooted in historical experience. I thus write about how strong ideas make NATO endure, and how these ideas can both build political order and get NATO into trouble. In 2011 I founded the University of Southern Denmark's Center for War Studies, and I now direct its Danish Institute for Advanced Study. I have been a scholar in residence at the NATO Defense College and at American University. In 2021 I had the honor of being knighted by the Queen of Denmark.