The authors discuss the need for a C4I architecture for the Netherlands armed forces and list the progress that has been made up to now. Several challenges are identified, such as unique real-time requirements, interoperability and agility and unique security requirements.

Discussing the visibility and cultural factors that inf luence the position of women in the armed forces is the object of the study that is presented here. The Netherlands do not have a martial tradition and are believed to have a feminine ‘soft’ culture , but nevertheless women have always been underrepresented. Nowadays …

In the 1960s, Jacques van Doorn started teaching (military) sociology as a formal, scientific discipline at the Netherlands Military Academy. Since then, the way military sociology was taught at the academy has seen a great number of developments; the philosophy of education at the academy changed into …

Analysis of the Dutch defense expenditure from 1990-2005. In 1990 this still amounted to 2.7% of the Gross National Product (GNP), whereas in 2005 it had dropped morethan a full per cent. In terms of their tasking, size and composition the Netherlands armed forces have changed drastically over the past …

The Dutch Armed forces have seen an enormous change during the last fifteen years. Peace keeping and enforcing have become the major tasks. The amount of troops and equipment has dwindled, so did the yearly budget. The decline of military means is defended by the thesis that quality is more important …

Due to financial constraints, armed forces are being down-sized, and due to the need for joint operations the organizational structure of the Dutch Armed Forces has changed drastically. Policy-making has been centralized. Navy, Army and Air Force are brought under one com-mand and support has been concentrated. …

Asymmetric warfare is hot, because all bigger conflicts fought in the world today are more or less asymmetric. According to Bart Tromp, late professor in the theory en history of international affairs, the war fought between the United States and the Iraqi Army in the last decade of the previous century …

The Dutch Government wishes to participate in peace enforcing missions and stabilizing missions. From the early 1990s onwards, the armed forces have taken part in several of such missions,examples of which are the execution of peace enforcing operations in the Gulf area and peacekeeping missions in former …

The authors present the findings of ten years of research concerning binational military cooperation in the First German-Netherlands Corps, founded in 1995. The start of this binational corps was accompanied with some worries because the interaction between Germans and Dutch in the populations at large …

The Dutch Minister of Defense, Eimert van Middelkoop, aims to maintain investments at a high level. But, how much should be invested in the Armed Forces? And how should the available money be allocated? The Dutch armed forces operate under difficult and ever-changing circumstances. Therefore, making …