Bernard Siman
Biography
Bernard Siman is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Egmont Institute and is Head of the Hybrid & Cyber Threats, Warfare and General Resilience Focus Group. Regionally, he is responsible for the Greater Middle East, the Gulf, the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions and Maritime Geopolitics.
He is Adjunct Professor at the Brussels School of Governance (BSOG) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB). He teaches regularly at the Belgian Royal Military Academy. He is a Member of the Management Committee of the Eastern Mediterranean Programme at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He also lectures regularly at the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and various NATO Centres of Excellence.
He was one of the authors of one of the first applied research reports on Hybrid Warfare in the Middle East, published by LSE Ideas, the foreign policy and security think tank of his alma mater, the London School of Economics and Political Science.
His background spans both the private sector, academia as well as public service. He has also worked in financial services in London, Tokyo, Turkey, the Mediterranean region, and the Gulf (where he lived for 13 years). Japan is a key area of direct interest both geopolitically but also culturally.
He obtained, inter alia, an MPhil in Government from the LSE and a Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering from Kyoto University, Japan where he lived and worked for 10 years.
He was honoured by HM The Queen as an Officer in the Order of the British Empire, and by HM King Filip of the Belgians as a Knight in the Order of Leopold.
In addition to English and Dutch, he speaks Japanese, Arabic, and some German. He has a lifelong interest in military history.
Publications
- A Periphery Without a Core: The Mecca Agreement and Europe’s Absence from the Middle East Security Policy Briefs
- Not One War but Three Wars in the Middle East Security Policy Briefs
- War on Iran: Tactical Success, Strategic Risk? Commentaries
- Belgium is Right: Borrow… Get the Money… Don’t Get Emotional Commentaries
- The Middle East and Central Asia now bound to the US by the Abrahamic Accords: Is Syria the US’ new backyard? Security Policy Briefs
- Financial Influence Operations in the Hybrid Threats Spectrum Egmont papers
- Terrorist Threats Outside of Warzone: Clashing Narratives, Foreign Information Manipulation & Influence, and Post-Truth External publications
- Trump Takes on the Fed and Weakens the Geopolitical Position of the US Commentaries
- To Strengthen Defence and National Security: Complete the Capital Markets Union Commentaries
- From Syria to the Black Sea: Containing Russia, Partnering with Turkey? Security Policy Briefs
- The Ukraine Liberty Bond: Unlocking Frozen Assets Without Breaking the Rules Commentaries
- Geopolitics and Geography: A Realigned EU Strategy for Stability in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Security Policy Briefs
- Russia’s Potential Alliance with Hizbollah: A Strategic Challenge for the EU in the Eastern Mediterranean Security Policy Briefs
- Back to the Future: Applying Cold War Wisdom to Modern Belgian Defence Security Policy Briefs
- The EU Ukraine Liberty Bond: Using the Whole of the €300 billion in Russian Assets in the EU Now Commentaries
- Emerging Hybrid Threats: AI And Microtargeting Disinformation As A Security Threat To The Protection Of International Forces External publications
- Strategic Communication, a Key to The Success of The EU’s Global Gateway External publications
- China in the Middle East: Consequences for Europe External publications
- Rethinking Geopolitical Strategies: from Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution in the Middle East Security Policy Briefs
- Behind the Hamas attack on Israel, Hard Geopolitics lurk Commentaries
- Countering FIMI: A Critical Imperative for Mission Safety Commentaries
- Ukraine: Perception Shapes Victory and Defeat Commentaries
- Russia’s Hybrid Wars Come to Sudan Security Policy Briefs
- New technologies, new threats, new budgets Commentaries
- EU Ukraine Strategy should include the Eurasian Spine Security Policy Briefs
- Hybrid Warfare: Attribution is Key to Deterrence Commentaries
- No Security for Ukraine or Europe without a Secure Black Sea and Mediterranean Commentaries
- Balancing Conventional and Hybrid Threats in (Future) State Competition: Potential policy pitfalls stemming from the Ukrainian conflict Security Policy Briefs
- Tanks versus Banks: Russian Military versus EU Geoeconomic Power Security Policy Briefs
- A Russia Strategy Must Look South: The Caucasus Impacts Europe through the Eastern Mediterranean Commentaries
- For Russia, the Ukraine Front Stretches to the Mediterranean Commentaries
- Hybrid Warfare Is not Synonymous with Cyber: The Threat of Influence Operations Security Policy Briefs
- The Eastern Mediterranean: Calm before the Storm in a Core European Strategic Zone Security Policy Briefs
- Afghan refugees: Europe should develop an ambitious and collaborative structure Commentaries