The Hugo Raab Award

The Hugo Raab Award is presented annually to promote scientific quality at the Swedish Defence University and is awarded to researchers, teachers or students at the Swedish Defence University who have produced one or more scientific works of exceptional quality in the last three years.

Hugo Raab is considered to have laid the foundations for academic military education. He was a Swedish baron and senior officer who lived between 1831 and 1881. During his military career, Raab contributed greatly to the modernization of the army's organization and officer training. In November 1876, he submitted his "Submissive proposal for the establishment of a War College in Stockholm" in which he argued for an academic foundation of the officer education.

External evaluators

The Hugo Raab Award was established to promote scientific excellence at the Swedish Defence University. The recipient of the award must be a researcher, teacher or student at the Swedish Defence University who has produced one or more scientific works of outstanding quality in the last three years. The award is 25 000 SEK. The recipient is selected by external evaluators.

The 2025 recipient of the Hugo Raab Award: Peter Haldén

Departmet of War Studies

Peter Haldén receives the award for his book Worlds of Uncertainty: War, Philosophies and Projects for Order, published by Cambridge University Press 2023.

Prize citation

"Peter Haldén is awarded the 2025 Hugo Raab Award for his monograph Worlds of Uncertainty: War, Philosophies and Projects for Order (Cambridge UP, 2023). The work deepens discussions of ontological certainty and uncertainty in light of strategic rationality through its engagement with thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hume, Clausewitz, Luhmann and Dewey.

Haldén takes bold intellectual steps, challenging his own judgement as an intellectual historian. Through empirical explorations ranging from plague-ridden Europe to today’s war in Ukraine, he demonstrates how the ontologies of certainty and uncertainty have coexisted from the Middle Ages to the present, alongside a pragmatic middle ground whose philosophical foundations he introduces to the reader. The author ultimately recommends this pragmatic caution and sobriety as a valuable stance for today’s decision-makers.

Haldén’s work is marked by great erudition and pedagogical skill, inviting reflection and discussion across the social sciences."

Read more about the book: Has the world become more unpredictable?