NATO: The Damage Is Done – So Think Big
For seventy-six years, NATO tried to prove Lord Palmerston wrong. Now it turns out that he was right after all: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual […]
Publications
Semiconductors and Statecraft: Belgium’s Role in Europe’s Technological Sovereignty
Abstract Belgium’s global role in semiconductors hinges not on scale but on control of a strategic chokepoint: upstream innovation. With imec at its centre, Belgium functions as Europe’s semiconductor R&D […]
The Geopolitical Impact of USAID’s Retreat on Humanitarian Aid: Towards a Complementary Approach between China and the EU?
Trump’s decision to cut funding and stop most of USAID’s projects will have lasting consequences. First and foremost, it adds great pressure on an already big funding gap. Forgotten and […]
From Belgium to Estonia, and Back
At the start of 2024, I wrote an opinion piece titled “Estonia is building bunkers, Belgium is ordering a study on the possibility of arming drones.” The contrast in defence […]
Countering Extremism in West Africa: What Options Are Left?
Over the past decade, Western and multilateral security interventions in the Sahel have failed to stabilize the region, while national and local efforts, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso, have […]
Stepping up Engagement in the Sahel: Russia, China, Turkey and the Gulf States
Over the past five years, since the latest wave of coups began in 2020, states in the Sahel have strategically realigned and shifted external partnerships. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger […]