Hans ''Wilhelm'' Kristofer Agrell (born 13 October 1950) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

writer and historian within the area of

peace and conflict studies Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violence, violent and nonviolence, nonviolent behaviors as well as the structural violence, structural mechanisms attending Conflict (process), conflicts (including ...

. His authorship has mostly focussed on Swedish

foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

and

defence policy Military policy (also called defence policy or defense policy) is public policy dealing with multinational security and the military. It comprises the measures and initiatives that governments do or do not take in relation to decision-making and ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Early life

Agrell was born on 13 October 1950 in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden, the son of , a professor of

pedagogics Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

working in the area of

military psychology Military psychology is a specialization within psychology that applies psychological science to promote the readiness of military members, organizations, and operations. Military psychologists provide support to the military in many ways, includ ...

, and Estrid (née Ehrenberg). He's the grandson of

Sigurd Agrell Per Sigurd Agrell (16 January 1881 in Värmland – 19 April 1937 in Lund) was a Sweden, Swedish poet, translator, Runology, runologist and professor of Slavic languages at Lund University. Biography Agrell's parents were Frans Vilhelm Agrell (18 ...

Career

He studied at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

and received his bachelor's degree in 1972 and he served in the Swedish Army School of Staff Work and Communications (''Arméns stabs- och sambandsskola'', StabSbS) from 1972 to 1973. Agrell was then sent to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

following the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

as part of the Swedish 52 M Battalion in the

United Nations Emergency Force The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was a military and peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the Suez Crisis, Suez Crisis of 1956 through the establishment of international peacekeeper ...

. After that he served in the Air Staff from 1974 to 1976 and was first administrative officer in the Defence Staff from 1976 to 1978. He started working at the Research Policy Institute in 1978 and started postgraduate studies at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

the same year, where he received his Ph.D. in history in 1985, with a thesis about the Swedish military doctrine from 1945 to 1982. He became

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

in 1987 and since 2006 he is

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

intelligence analysis Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of delibera ...

at Lund University.

Personal life

In 1977 he married librarian (born 1952), the daughter of agronomist Hilding Frostell and Gunnel (née Brunberg).

Awards and decorations

United Nations Emergency Force Medal The United Nations Emergency Force Medal was a service medal of the United Nations for service in the United Nations Emergency Force between 7 November 1956 and 19 May 1967. History In 1956, Egypt came into conflict with the combined forces of Is ...

Nils Holgersson Plaque The Nils Holgersson Plaque is an award given by Swedish Library Association. It was established in 1950, and named for the book ''The Wonderful Adventures of Nils'' by Selma Lagerlöf. It is an annual award given to the author of the best children' ...

(2002)

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for military (army and air force) and de ...

(1990) *Member of the board of (from 2008)

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrell, Wilhelm 1950 births Living people People from Uppsala 20th-century Swedish historians 21st-century Swedish historians Writers from Uppsala County Stockholm University alumni Lund University alumni Academic staff of Lund University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Swedish Air Force personnel Recipients of the Nils Holgersson Plaque