Samenvatting

The paper focuses on the challenge of getting practice-oriented cadets interested in learning IR theories which they perceive as abstract and remote from their foreseeable (medium-term) professional practice. It considers teaching IR from the perspective of the theory-practice divide. At the Netherlands Defense Academy we have designed two international security studies courses specifically to bridge the gap. At the heart of the first is a case study of a contemporary conflict. The second course zooms out to consider the strategic environment and defense policy. Both are structured around student-driven tutorial sessions, which puts cadets in charge of applying theory to their own future practice.