Welcome to your Weekly HCSS Digest, informing you of everything our Strategic Analysts and Subject Matter Experts have to say this week on geopolitics, global challenges and international security issues worldwide.
The strategic threats of the future are increasingly hybrid: military assets and cyber operations, influencing strategies and economic sanctions are deployed in an orchestrated manner – pioneered by Russia. How can the Royal Netherlands Army best respond to this? Read the recommendations by Rob de Wijk, Frank Bekkers and Tim Sweijs in our latest report on hybrid threats and hybrid war.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense presented the new Defense Vision 2035 this week, in which they look ahead 15 years to prepare for the fight of the future. What are the threats to our peace and security? And how should our armed forces respond to this, now and in the coming years? In a short preview, Tim Sweijs, HCSS Director of Research, stressed the importance of the new vision: “The security of the Netherlands and its allies is at stake. The Dutch Defense organization faces a major challenge to continue to protect Dutch interests and values in the years to come.”
The battle is on between Biden and Trump, but why aren’t there more parties in USofA? Compared to the Netherlands, where there is a political party in every flavor, the choice between two extremes in the States seems rather limited. NPO Radio 1 show “Fris!” thought it was time for some clarification on how this came to be, and HCSS data scientist and expert on US politics Paul Verhagen is just the man to do so.
And if you’re thirsty for more, on this weekend’s episode of De Strateeg, our podcast with BNR, we’re offering a double dose of Verhagen: you can hear the dynamic duo of Frans ánd Paul Verhagen discussing US politics and the upcoming elections.
Meet the Verhagens, this Sunday morning on BNR Nieuwsradio, the BNR app, Spotify and/or Apple Podcasts!
Libya, Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh: these are all conflicts involving Russia and Turkey. But Erdogan and Putin respect each other and avoid escalation. The reason? Shared anti-Western feelings, says Rob de Wijk in his new column for Trouw.
HCSS Subject Matter Expert Friso Stevens wrote a peer-reviewed article in Asian Perspective, published by Johns Hopkins University Press: “The Great War Analogy and the Sino-American Security Dilemma: Foreboding or Fallacious?”
In other news…. How can we try to solve water-related conflicts? Kitty van der Heijden, the head of international cooperation at the Dutch Foreign Ministry, adds her voice in explaining why the Netherlands is the main supporter of the WPS partnership. Listen to the World Resources podcast series ‘Big Ideas Into Action’ on Soundcloud.
HCSS is hiring, part 1: the HCSS Data lab offers an exciting internship to aspiring data scientists. Our data internship is an opportunity for hands-on experience in developing production-grade, early warning, causal discovery, and policy recommender system – check out the details here.
HCSS is hiring, part 2: Solving complex policy challenges, HCSS is developing some of the most advanced real-world policy applications. In collaboration with the leading universities in the Netherlands, we are further strengthening our Data lab’s capability and competencies. To this end, we are inviting ambitious hopefuls to apply for a PhD role in applied data science. Our PhD role is intended to bridge the gap between the data science and conflict modeling communities.
With the second lockdown in effect in the Netherlands, we don’t expect to see many of you in person soon, as working from home is once again the norm. However, should you take a walk in the centre of The Hague, you shouldn’t skip the beautiful Lange Voorhout, the most beautiful lane in Holland: from the 17th of October til the 9th of November, there will be a free (outside) exposition right in front of our building, celebrating 75 Years of the United Nations.
And finally: Birthday Time! Congratulations to Assistant Analyst Jens Emmer, who will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow – have a great day, all within the current Covid guidelines, of course!
