Sometimes all the geopolitical and international security news in the world is trumped by something infinitely better and more important:
This Wednesday, HCSS strategic analyst Hugo van Manen became the proud father of a beautiful daughter. Congratulations Hugo and welcome Anna van Manen! (we’re expecting you for the Fall 2040 internship at HCSS by the way)
Meanwhile, Strategic analyst Louk Faesen gave birth this week to the new comprehensive HCSS report “From Blurred Lines to Red Lines: Countermeasures and Norms in Hybrid Conflict”, written together with Tim Sweijs, Alexander Klimburg, Conor MacNamara and Michael Mazarr. Can we use norms to turn the blurred lines of hybrid conflict into red lines? This new report explores this question through several Russian and Chinese case studies.
While a confident China is flexing its muscles, the relationship between Europe and the US is deteriorating. Should Europe do everything it can to restore those ties, or should it set its own course? Listen to the new episode of De Strateeg, our podcast with BNR, featuring HCSS Senior strategic analyst Paul van Hooft on the future of the transatlantic relationship.
The coronavirus is reinforcing current geopolitical trends. What does this mean for Europe? Is NATO doomed? Instituut Clingendael and HCSS have the pleasure to invite you to a webinar on October 8th with Rob de Wijk and Dick Zandee, in which we discuss these major questions and the implications for the Netherlands. Click here to register for the webinar, which is also streamed live on YouTube.
What will the war of the future look like? The Royal Netherlands Society for Military Art and Science (KVBK) and HCSS proudly invite you to a webinar by Dr. Frank G. Hoffman, strategic analyst and retired lieutenant colonel of the US Marine Corps on October 29th.
On BNR Nieuwsradio, Strategic analyst Patrick “Mr. Nuance” Bolder commented on the news that the F-35 could not fly during thunder.
With their ideas about authoritarian leadership and the restriction of the rule of law, Wilders and Baudet sometimes resemble Trojan horses directly controlled by the Kremlin, wrote Rob de Wijk in his weekly column for Trouw.
It should have been a celebration, the 75th Anniversary of the UN. But in a year dominated by corona and other geopolitical tensions, that festive mood seems far away. Han ten Broeke commented in De Volkskrant.
The intended TikTok deal between Oracle, Walmart and ByteChance gets the green light as President Trump gives it his blessing. “It is an attempt to kick all Chinese out,” commented Data scientist Paul Verhagen on BNR Nieuwsradio.
US ambassador Pete Hoekstra received harsh criticism this week for hosting a fundraiser with Baudet. But did he cross a line? “The question of whether it is allowed or not is not that interesting,” Rob de Wijk says in Dutch newspaper NRC. “Diplomacy is a matter of trust. And as a minister you start to think: I have to pay attention to my words because he isn’t neutral. I think Hoekstra will certainly feel the repercussions of this.”
With the death of Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the American rule of law is in a coma. This puts the leading global democracy in danger, argues HCSS Data scientist – and expert on US politics – Paul Verhagen in an op-ed in newspaper Het Parool.
The Chinese leadership has long known that the old ‘China Model’ had become ‘unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable’, writes HCSS Subject Matter Expert Friso Stevens. China’s hard crackdown in Hong Kong is an extension of its domestic policy
Yesterday was Paul Sinning’s birthday, but instead of celebrating it at HCSS together with dedicated colleagues, the poor man had to spent it somewhere in Italy sipping prosecco in a trattoria. We hope he managed to still have a good time… Happy birthday Paul!
