The growing presence of Defence in Dutch universities is generating intense debate. Recent developments including Defence-funded research, military internships for students, and closer institutional cooperation, have raised a fundamental question: are universities becoming militarised, or can engagement with Defence strengthen democratic civilian oversight of the military?
In a recent article in de Volkskrant on the expanding role of Defence in higher education, Jessica Dorsey argues that the increasing use of AI-enabled military systems creates an urgent need for civilian expertise on ethics, accountability, and international humanitarian law. While warning about the risks posed by autonomous and AI-supported military decision-making, Dorsey maintains that collaboration between universities and Defence is not inherently problematic, provided researchers remain attentive to questions of human control, legal accountability, and civilian protection.
Lauren Gould approaches the issue from a different angle. During the Utrecht University events Defence Dialogue: Militarisation of Education and Knowledge for the War Machine?, as well as in the Dossier NAV podcast episode Wie betaalt, bepaalt?, Gould highlighted how militarisation extends beyond battlefields and into educational institutions, research agendas, funding structures, and the language of security and resilience. She has also raised concerns about the growing influence of Defence funding on universities and the tensions between academic values of openness and the strategic imperatives of military institutions.
Taken together, these interventions reveal an important paradox. On the one hand, closer ties between academia and Defence can be understood as part of a broader process of militarisation: the production and normalisation of social relations that enable war and war-preparedness and the harms they entail, through various narratives, policies and actors. On the other hand, democratic societies require meaningful civilian oversight of military institutions, especially as emerging technologies such as AI become increasingly integrated into military operations.
For RAW researchers concerned with the realities of contemporary warfare, the crucial question is therefore not simply whether universities should engage with Defence, but under what conditions such engagement serves democratic accountability rather than reproducing the logics of militarisation.
