Entries by Stephanie Govaerts

Arne Eichholtz on his time as a Datalab intern and finding the perfect place to combine his technical background in a policy setting

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My name is Arne Eichholtz, I am Dutch, born and raised in Maastricht. My background is in AI, I did my Bachelor in Artificial Intelligence at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, from which I graduated last summer. As for previous work experience, I did a summer internship during my studies but other than that little professional work experience. HCSS is my first proper 9-5 job. By the end of June, I will have been at HCSS for almost 9 months as an intern in the data lab. The regular internship is six months, but I was given the opportunity to extend, so I gladly decided to extend until the summer.

Benedetta Benzoni on what it’s like being a Water, Peace & Security (WPS) Intern at HCSS and why she extended her internship

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Hi, my name is Benedetta Benzoni and I am 22 years old. I am originally from Italy, I partly grew up in Scotland, and I moved to France to pursue my studies at Sciences Po Paris when I was 17. My Bachelor was in History & International Relations (with my third year being at l’Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon), and I am now in the middle of my master’s in International Governance & Diplomacy, specialising in Middle Eastern Studies.

Giulio Damiani on his personal development, tips for applying to HCSS and the connections he made along the way

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Hey, my name is Giulio! I originally come from Rome, Italy, but I have been living in the Netherlands for the past four years. I first moved here to pursue my bachelor’s degree at University College Maastricht (UCM), an interdisciplinary, research-based program where I delved into subjects as diverse as Sociology, War Studies, Chinese Foreign Policy, and Latin American History. At UCM, I began to realize my great passion for academic research and my deep investment in international relations, specifically the dynamics of conflict and great power competition. Currently, I am pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Leiden University, furthering my interest in global security and geopolitics. I was hesitant in applying for HCSS given my predominantly academic background, but during the interview process I realized how HCSS truly values the passion and interest you can demonstrate.

Alisa Hoenig on cementing her interest in the Indo-Pacific, mentorship and next steps

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Hi! I’m Alisa and I’m from Germany. Originally, I moved to the Netherlands to do a Bachelor in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. In this programme, I specialised in international relations. I have an inherent interest in different countries, culture, and the relations between them, which is what led to me to this field of study in the first place. Previously, I also spent a year in New Zealand during high school and an exchange semester at Sciences Po in Paris. I graduated from my Bachelor in the summer of 2023 and started working at HCSS in August 2023.

Symposium Recap | Commemorating the 25th anniversary of NATO’s 1999 enlargement

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On April 11, HCSS together with the Embassies of Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, co-hosted an event commemorating NATO’s enlargement in 1999, celebrating the recent joining of Finland and Sweden, and set the stage for the upcoming NATO summits to be held in the United States and the Netherlands between 2024 and 2025.

Interview | Laura Jasper with the Institute of New Europe “Unraveling the Complexities of Disinformation: An Expert’s Insight”

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On Wednesday, May 15, 2024, HCSS strategic analyst Laura Jasper was interviewed by the Institute of New Europe on “Unraveling the Complexities of Disinformation.”

HCSS is hiring an NLP-Datalab Intern!

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The HCSS Datalab offers an exciting internship to aspiring data scientists with an interest in NLP. Our clients include major corporations, key government ministries, development banks, development aid agencies, and security providers, both domestic and global. The HCSS data internship therefore offers invaluable experience working on some of the most significant global issues of our time.

Column Rob de Wijk: Poetin heeft geen recht om oorlog te voeren, Zelensky wel

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‘Poetin heeft geen recht om oorlog te voeren, Zelensky wel’, schrijft Rob de Wijk in zijn column voor Trouw. De discussie over moraliteit en oorlog, die al eeuwen oud is, staat weer centraal, vooral gezien de recente gebeurtenissen in het Midden-Oosten en Oekraïne. Rob de Wijk legt uit wat het concept van een rechtvaardige oorlog is, ontwikkeld door de filosoof Augustinus, om het gebrek aan rechtvaardigheid in Poetins en Hamas’ agressie te benadrukken.

De Strateeg: ‘75 jaar NAVO: Wat valt er te vieren?’

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De NAVO bestaat deze week precies 75 jaar. Het bondgenootschap moest het Westen beschermen tegen de dreiging vanuit de Sovjet-Unie. Toen die uiteenviel heeft het Westen het vredesdividend optimaal benut, misschien iets te, want nu de Russische dreiging terug is zijn we daar eigenlijk niet goed op voorbereid. Valt er dus wel iets te vieren rond dit 75-jarig jubileum? Dat ga je horen in deze aflevering van De Strateeg van Bart Groothuis, VVD-Europarlementariër, en van Tim Sweijs, directeur onderzoek bij het Den Haag Centrum voor Strategische Studies.

New Snapshot | Fresh Wind or Business as Usual: What the Indonesian Elections Mean for Dutch-Indonesian Relations

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How will a new Indonesian president shape the country’s position in the Indo-Pacific and its ties with the Netherlands? Since the outgoing president Jokowi has exhausted his term limit, political change is guaranteed following the presidential elections on 14 February 2024. This snapshot by assistant analyst Alisa Hoenig and strategic analysts Benedetta Girardi and Paul van Hooft investigates how the outcome will affect Indonesia’s role as a potentially crucial player and key cooperation partner for Europe and the Netherlands in the Indo-Pacific.