Nienke Wessel

Nienke Wessel is a Researcher at the Clingendael Security Unit, primarily working within the Resilience Programme.  Her research focuses on the impact of international developments on Dutch society, with a specific focus on disinformation, narratives, and polarization. She combines quantitative and qualitative research methods to find the answers to societal questions.

Nienke holds bachelor's degrees in Computing Science, Mathematics, Linguistics, Spanish Language and Culture, American Studies, Islam Politics and Society, and Philosophy Politics and Society, five of which cum laude. She also has a master's degree in Computing Science (specialisation in Data Science, focussing on Natural Language Processing, AI, and Cyber Security), and is working on master's degrees in Linguistics, Philosophy, Islam Politics and Society, Transatlantic Studies, and Conflict Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, and Terrorism and Political Violence at Leiden University. She has also published in academic journals on using natural language processing and computational methods in research. Before working at Clingendael, she interned at the Security Unit and the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs and freelanced in higher education quality assurance in the Netherlands and abroad.