Roundtable | A safe haven in turbulent times: promoting logistical and economic resilience
All panels will be held under the Chatham House Rule.
Ports are critical infrastructure: crucial as gateways of global trade and as logistics hubs for civilian and military activities. As geopolitical instability rises, so too does the importance of the cyber and physical resilience of ports. At the same time, ports face increasingly diverse and complex threats.
Concerns about these threats are top of mind among the Dutch population: according to the latest Clingendael Barometer opinion polls, the Dutch public ranks cyber and physical sabotage of critical infrastructure as the two most impactful and likely threats facing the Netherlands. On the other side of the coin, the Dutch public sees better protection against sabotage as the most hopeful development.
Three expert panels will examine how ports and related infrastructure help ensure Europe’s economic continuity and military mobility. Each panel explores a specific domain of geopolitical resilience in a time of mounting global instability. The event is part of a series of thematic pre-summit sessions in the run-up to the NATO Summit in The Hague on 24 and 25 June 2025.
Programme
12.45–13.15 | Registration and coffee
13.15–14.00 | Keynote speeches
- Opening: Dr. Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
- Keynote: "Globalization and the Securitization of Ports" by Elisabeth Braw, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and author of “Goodbye Globalization”
- Response: "The need for a comprehensive EU port strategy" by Tom Berendsen, Member of European Parliament, and rapporteur of the resolution calling for an EU port strategy
14.00–14.15 | Break
14.15–15.15 | Roundtable discussion (I): Preparing Ports for Geopolitical Storms
- Boudewijn Siemons, CEO of the Rotterdam Port Authority
- CDR Han van Bussel, Sous-Chef Material Readiness at the Netherlands Ministry of Defence
Moderator: Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
15.15–15.30 | Break
15.30–16.45 | Roundtable discussion (II): Addressing Vulnerabilities in Port Logistics and Best Practices on Port Resilience
- Larissa van der Lugt PhD, Director of Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics
- Konrad Poplawski PhD, Project Leader at the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW)
Moderator: Xiaoxue Martin, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
16.45 | Closing and drinks
This event is organised in close cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV).
