Rob de Wijk is the founder (2007) and non-executive director of The Hague Centre for
Strategic Studies (HCSS). HCSS helps governments, non-governmental organizations and the
private sector to understand the fast-changing environment and seeks to anticipate the
challenges of the future with policy solutions and advice.
Currently, he is also Professor of International Relations at Leiden University, chairman of
the National Security Think Tank (Denktank Nationale Veiligheid) and columnist for the
national daily Trouw and monthly for Energiepodium.nl
He is a member of the Strategic Advisors Group of the Atlantic Council in Washington and of
Senior Steering Group van het NATO Special Forces Headquarters in Mons.
He studied Contemporary History and International Relations in Groningen, and wrote his
PhD dissertation on NATO’s ‘Flexibility in Response’ strategy at the Political Science
Department of Leiden University.
Professor De Wijk started his career in 1977 as a freelance journalist and later became
lecturer in International Relations at Leiden University’s Political Science Department. He
also worked at the Ministry of Defense, where he was instrumental in the restructuring of the
Dutch armed forces in the early nineties.
In 2012 (until December 2015) he was appointed General Director of The Hague Security
Delta (HSD). HSD aims to develop the The Hague – Rotterdam region into an internationally
renowned security cluster, by bringing together the private sector, government and knowledge
institutes.
Other positions he has held include director of the Clingendael Security and Conflict
Programme and Professor in the field of International Relations at the Royal Netherlands
Military Academy.