Jaïr van der Lijn

Dr. Jaïr van der Lijn is Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute. He joined Clingendael in 2007. He is also affiliated with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) where he heads the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme. His research focuses primarily on: current trends and future developments in multilateral peace operations (eg. AU, EU, NATO, UN); their handling of complex environments; their evaluation; and, their relationship with local actors in host nations. He has also focused on the role of rising powers in the future of peace operations, the future of peace operations in Africa and the role of peace operations in dealing with non-traditional challenges, such as climate change, crime, migration, piracy and terrorism. He has published widely and conducted extensive field research in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, El Salvador, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan and Sudan.

He also has an extensive background in future foresight and was involved in the future policy survey ('Verkenningen') of the Netherlands armed forces. He has led scenario planning exercises and processes on amongst others countries Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria, and on topics such as the future of peace operations and the future of the monopoly on the use of force.

In addition to his roles at Clingendael and SIPRI, Jaïr is Associate Fellow at the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Managment of the Radboud University Nijmegen and Associate Editor of the Journal of International Peacekeeping. He has extensive media experience.