In the summer of 2007 the Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, started working on more international collaboration on an institutional level.

That day the participating academies also decided to formally present the ISMS in November 2009 during its first annual international conference which was to be held in the Netherlands.

1) The undersigned institutions of Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, and the Baltic Defence College (later referred to as the institutions) agree to establish a society intended to further research and academic education in military arts and sciences in the broadest sense.

2) The purpose of the Society is to build a network for the creation, development, exchange and diffusion of research and knowledge about war, conflict management and peace support efforts.

Activities include communications and publications to support a research network within topics such as: war studies; military history; military technology; command and control, leadership and basic competence; law and ethics; security and defence policy and strategy; armed forces and society; and defence economics and management.

6) The Society will be established for the four-year term in October 2008 upon signing of Letter of Intent by the institutions, and it is announced at the First Annual Conference.

[1] Membership of the ISMS is open to defence universities and colleges conducting research and teaching at the highest national level.

[19][20] The handbooks Editor-in-Chief Anders McD Sookermany[21] and three of the Section Editors are Council Members of the ISMS: David M. Last, Wolfgang Peischel and Niels Bo Poulsen.