E-mail: hob@ifs.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 32 40 86

Areas of Expertise:
  • NATO
  • Nordic Defense Policy

Director, Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science since 2015. 

Senior Researcher, Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science since 2010. Senior Nonresident Fellow, Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C. since 2014. Nonresident Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University since 2014.

Deputy Head of Institute ad interim, Senior Researcher, and Researcher at the Danish Institute for Military Studies (2006-2010). In 2008 on loan to Defence Command Denmark; from there sent as voluntary national contribution to NATO’s Allied Command Transformation. Served here as lead writer at the Command’s Multiple Futures Project, a futures study serving as basis for the Alliance’s long-term defence planning. Before this, he worked for the Danish Institute for International Studies’ Department for Defence and Security Studies, and was graduate student and Research Fellow at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen.

Guest researcher Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique (CESSP), Université Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne (2014-2015), Resident Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University (2014), Visiting Research Fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies (2002-2003) and auditeur libre at Science Po’s Ecole doctorale (2003-2004).

Has briefed NATO’s Secretary General and in the Pentagon (J5) among others; organised workshops at the highest international level including long-term defence planning workshop with 19 participating nations for NATO Allied Command Transformation (Strategic Foresight Analysis and Framework for Future Allied Operations) in Copenhagen (February 2012), to speech writing for General James Mattis, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation; spoken at IISS (London), RUSI (London), Atlantic Council US (Washington, DC), NATO Defence College (Rom), Baltic Defence College (Tartu, Estland), Royal Danish Defence College (Copenhagen), CJEX/Combined Joint Exercise (Defence Command Denmark), Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University (Providence, RI), Master of Disaster Management (University of Copenhagen), and participated in expert hearings for the Defence Commission in the Danish Parliament.

Co-founded and co-ran Nyhedsmagasinet Ræson (2001-2005); blogged profligately on international politics at Draconian Observations (2005-2008); contributed to running and shaping the Danish Institute for Military Studies (2006-2010).

PhD in Political Science (International Relations) from the University of Copenhagen, MA in European Studies from Aarhus University and graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) with a Cycle Internationale d’Etudes Politiques, Section Internationale (CIEP/SI).

Knowledge of languages

Reads and speaks English and French. Reads English, French, German, and Spanish.

Education

PhD, Political Science, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen