Entries by Patrick Willemsen

The Times Of Israel | Tim Sweijs: “Multi-domain operations are old wine in new bottles — the tech has changed, but the core challenges of coordination remain.”

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Modern warfare is evolving fast, blending automation with boots on the ground. At the center is multi-domain operations (MDO), a concept powered by real-time intelligence, expanded strike capacity and digitally linked sensors and units. Yet implementing MDO remains difficult. “Multi-domain operations are old wine in new bottles,” says HCSS Research Director Tim Sweijs in The Times of Israel, noting that militaries still struggle to coordinate across services. As conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine show, technology is transforming battlefields — but war remains deeply human.

Journal of Contemporary China | Friso Stevens: A Revanchist Chinese Foreign Policy, with Xi Jinping’s Politics in Command

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In an article for the Journal of Contemporary China, HCSS senior fellow Friso M. S. Stevens uses Steve Tsang’s concept of Party-state Realism to explain how Xi Jinping’s ideology drives China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy. He shows how Xi’s two-pronged strategy — combining military build-up with indirect tools such as psychological warfare, United Front operations, and lawfare—aims to restore Chinese regional primacy by 2049. Stevens details how ideology, political culture, and strategic intent converge in a long-term effort to reshape East Asia toward Sino-centrality.

De Strateeg | Japan waarschuwt China over Taiwan: groeit het risico op een Aziatisch conflict?

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De nieuwe Japanse premier Takaichi heeft China gewaarschuwd dat Japan een eventuele Chinese inname van Taiwan niet zal laten gebeuren. Die boodschap zet de twee landen lijnrecht tegenover elkaar en vergroot de spanningen in de regio. Wat zijn de gevolgen van een clash voor ons? Paul van Liempt praat met HCSS strategisch analist Hans Horan en Casper Wits, universitair docent Oost-Aziëstudies aan de Universiteit Leiden, in BNR podcast De Strateeg.

Nederlander moet zelfredzamer worden bij crises | Rob de Wijk: ‘Geen bangmakerij, maar reële kans”

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De overheid lanceert een grote campagne en bezorgt iedereen een brochure met concrete tips voor de eerste drie dagen van een ramp. Volgens Rob de Wijk is dit hard nodig: burgers overschatten wat de overheid kan doen en te weinig mensen hebben een noodpakket. Door toenemende dreigingen – van cyberaanvallen tot hybride oorlogsvoering – moeten Nederlanders beter voorbereid zijn. De Wijk benadrukt: het is geen bangmakerij, maar realiteit dat je jezelf tijdelijk zult moeten redden.

The Draghi Report Revisited | Conclusion

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In the concluding instalment of the Draghi Report Revisited series, series editors Ron Stoop and Berend Kwak assess how far the EU has come, one year after Mario Draghi’s call for a stronger and more competitive Europe. Drawing on the sectoral deep dives by HCSS analysts, they outline where real progress has been made — and where Europe continues to fall short in achieving industrial, technological and economic sovereignty. Their verdict: while policy ambition is rising, implementation remains slow, fragmented and underfunded — leaving Europe at risk of staying a regulatory power rather than becoming an industrial one.

New HCSS report: How can China and the Netherlands cooperate to accelerate the green transition?

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What can the Netherlands and China learn from each other to drive the green transition? A new HCSS report by Fiona De Cuyper, Ardi Bouwers, and Laura Birkman compares how China and the Netherlands design and implement sustainability policy—and where cooperation can accelerate the green transition. The study identifies shared priorities, complementary strengths, and strategic opportunities across physical connectivity, environmental quality, and resilience, offering concrete recommendations for future Sino-Dutch collaboration.

HCSS & Clingendael ‘Dag van Progress’ 2025 | Europese Soevereiniteit en Kennis in Tijden van trans-Atlantische Spanning

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Op 13 november 2025 organiseerden Instituut Clingendael en het Den Haag Centrum voor Strategische Studies (HCSS) ism de opdrachtgevende ministeries van Buitenlandse Zaken en Defensie de ‘Dag van Progress’. Tijdens deze besloten middag verkenden onderzoekers, beleidsmakers en strategische denkers de uitdagingen en kansen voor Europa in tijden van veranderende trans-Atlantische verhoudingen, en wat dit betekent voor Europa’s strategische autonomie, defensie-industrie en technologische weerbaarheid.

Military and Security Leaders urge Europe to treat Clean Energy as a Defence Priority

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“Investing in green fuels is investing in stability and sovereignty”: a coalition of security leaders, including HCSS experts Richard Nugee, Laura Birkman and Tom Middendorp, urge Europe to treat clean energy as core to national defence. In an open letter, they call for counting low-carbon energy investments toward NATO’s 1.5% resilience target, warning that fossil-fuel dependence undermines sovereignty. Their message is clear: renewable energy is now a strategic security imperative.

The Draghi Report Revisited | Defence

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In the eighth and final edition of the HCSS Draghi Report Revisited series, strategic analyst Davis Ellison examines the EU’s struggle to turn sovereignty into capability, as he explores how far Europe has come on Defence — and how far it still has to go. Europe’s defence ambitions are rising — but progress remains fragmented, warns Ellison: “Defence remains largely outside EU competences, so ambition often exceeds what Brussels can actually deliver.”

Annales des Mines | The current state of the European Union’s dependency and its policies

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In an article for Les Annales des Mines, HCSS strategic advisor Peter Handley examines how the EU’s efforts to reduce strategic dependencies — from energy to defence — have paradoxically coincided with rising import reliance. As China tightens export controls and the US races ahead with industrial policy, Handley argues that Europe must urgently shift from awareness to action to secure critical raw materials — and with them, its strategic autonomy.