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Dr Anicée Van Engeland

A woman stood in front of Cranfield University branded signage.

Associate Professor of International Security and Law, Cranfield University

“I am passionate about human rights, and Cranfield University and the Defence Academy give me the opportunity to work with impact. I can see how my teaching imprints on the armed forces, police forces and others around the world.”

Dr Anicée Van Engeland’s background and expertise has been instrumental in supporting the Defence Academy’s International Section with the Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context (MDWSC) (Export) courses.

Joining the Defence Academy’s academic partner, Cranfield University in 2016 as a senior lecturer, Dr Van Engeland has since promoted to associate professor, using her research on law and governance to look at ways of enhancing the respect for universal human rights law, globally.

Besides doing desk-based research, through the support of research grants, Dr Van Engeland also travels in person, to gather data through fieldwork.

“I travel to the Muslim world but also beyond. I have broadened my horizons working with Defence Academy on MDWSC, engaging in the study on non-Muslim countries. I also collaborate on research contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office (FCDO), looking at ways to understand the importance human rights play in the international equilibrium.”

Since working with the International Section, Dr Van Engeland has travelled to multiple countries to train members of the armed forces, police forces, the judiciary or members of civil society to a variety of legal and politics’ issues. Some of those include:

  • constitutional law and human rights law in Ukraine
  • human rights law and humanitarian law including the use of force to the Jamaican armed forces and police
  • improving the armed forces understanding of policy and strategy-making in Kuwait
  • debriefed the role of protests and riots as a crucial element of the social contract in several countries
  • collaborate on research contracts with UK MOD and the FCDO

Her work in delivering MDWSC is directly supporting the UK MOD’s Defence Engagement strategy.

“I can see how my teaching imprints on the armed forces, police forces and others around the world. For example, in one country, our in-class discussions about the concept of the soldier citizen discussed with high-ranking officials, made its way to Parliamentary debates.
"In another country, I was asked to brief the Ministry of Interior on the legal risks soldiers were exposed to following human rights law breaches. I have had the privilege of discussing some front news events with the actors who were on the ground, debriefing the operations from a human rights’ perspective and often rely on my Muslim expertise."
"It’s quite an experience to see the delegates open up and trust us because they know we come from Cranfield University and the Defence Academy. It is then up to us to maintain that reputation by delivering impeccable and memorable teaching material.”

In 2021, Dr Anicée was awarded a British Academy grant to further her work on MDWSC. She has since created a whole network of academics based on the ‘Global South’ to give them the opportunity to present their views of what is peace and security.

“This grant was made possible thanks to the work I do with the Defence Academy.”
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