Mik Dijkman

Mik Dijkman is a Junior Research Fellow at the Security Unit. She takes part in both the Security and Defence and the Strategic Foresight programmes. Her main research interests are issues related to international politics and diplomacy, global conflict, and irregular warfare.

She specializes in private military companies and their contributions to global conflicts as well as the political repercussions of the privatization of the military apparatus. She has conducted thorough research into the Wagner Group and its relations to the Russian government, but also into the use of PMCs such as Blackwater USA for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

Mik holds an MA in Military Strategic Studies from the Royal Netherlands Defence Academy, an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University, and a BA in World Politics: Liberal Arts and Sciences (cum laude) from Leiden University College. Prior to her work as a junior research fellow, Mik was an intern at Clingendael’s Security Unit.