The Clingendael Institute’s public platform function was significantly strengthened in 2017. Clingendael also introduced a contemporary, primarily English-language website (.org) in 2017, of which the “Clingendael Spectator” magazine forms an integral part. The publications also increasingly include accessible infographics and storyboards. This online proposition enables the Institute to reach a wider audience and to achieve the objective of this programme – to make a nationally and internationally valued contribution to the national and international public debate (particularly with regard to Europe) in the field of international relations. Clingendael rose significantly in the rankings of the TTCSP Global Think Tank Index in 2017: from 17th to 10th place in the ‘Best Think Tank in Western Europe’ ranking and from 48th to 30th place in the ‘Best Think Tank Worldwide’ ranking.

Audience research: ‘Netherlands in the World’ Barometer

Work started in 2017 on the development of a ‘Barometer’ to track the views of Dutch people on subjects such as security and international/European cooperation and the position the Netherlands should adopt on these issues relative to Europe and the world. In collaboration with Prof. Mark Elchardus, emeritus professor of sociology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), and Dr Alex Lehr, university lecturer at Radboud University Nijmegen, Monika Sie Dhian Ho and a team of Clingendael experts drew up an initial draft questionnaire. The possibility of collaborating with Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the field research was also investigated in 2017.

The preliminary work conducted in 2017 provides a basis for the work on the Barometer in 2018. This work includes finalising the questionnaire by means of qualitative and quantitative assessments and conducting negotiations with Statistics Netherlands on the field research, which is scheduled to take place after the summer. The results will be published in collaboration with a Dutch newspaper and will serve as input for a series of public discussions on the Netherlands in the world at various places arounds the country. A proposal for additional financing from a private fund is also being prepared to make all this possible.

Clingendael Alerts

The following Alerts – concise analyses that cast fresh light on relevant international developments – have been produced in 2017:

Title of Alert

Expert

Violent extremism and development: Witnessing a   fundamental pivot

Bibi van Ginkel **

The EU and North Korea: sanctions alone are not   enough

Sico van der Meer

Reflectie op regeerakkoord Rutte III / Reflection on Rutte III Coalition Agreement

Rem Korteweg, Margriet Drent, Dick Zandee, Fransje Molenaar, Louise van Schaik

Europe and Japan schould look to each other amid uncertainty about Trump and Xi

Maaike Okano-Heijmans

Five Reasons Why The Iran Nuclear Deal Has To Go

Peter van Ham

Fake news – and what ( not) to do about it

Jan Melissen **

Dutch perspectives on the security of the Baltic States

Anne Bakker

Rutte en de Europese januskop

Adriaan Schout

PIN: Processes of International Negotiation #44

Wilbur Perlot, Paul Meerts, et al.

The EMU does not have any flaws

(also published in Beleid en Maatschappij)

Adriaan Schout **

**) These Alerts were issued in conjunction with a public meeting and/or expert panel. See inter alia: link

Clingendael Policy Briefs

The following Policy Briefs – longer in-depth analyses on socially relevant subjects ­­­– were produced in 2017 (some were completed in 2017 but will be published in the forthcoming weeks/months):

Title of Policy Brief

Expert

Climate-migration-security: Making the most of a contested relationship

Louise van Schaik

Geopolitics of the sustainability transition – risks and opportunities

Louise van Schaik

Clingendael Radar Series

(five ‘Radars’ on Terrorism, CBRN, Migration,

Climate and Free Trade)

Kars de Bruijne, Minke Meijnders, Bibi van Ginkel, Louise van Schaik, Fransje Molenaar, Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Sico van der Meer

The 2017 elections across Europe: facts, expectations and consequences (EPC )

Adriaan Schout

De valkuilen voor een sociaal Europa zijn groot - Burger ziet EU als sociale bedreiging; niet als oplossing

Adriaan Schout, Yuri van Loon, Michiel Luining

“The Dutch EU Presidency: The Continuing Relevance of the Rotating Presidency in a Political Union”

(Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 55 (S1))

Adriaan Schout

“Benelux: The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg” (with Fabian Willermain, Alexander Mattelaer and Martine Huberty) in Oliver, T. (ed.), Europe’s Brexit

Rem Korteweg

Geïntegreerd veiligheidsbeleid

Margriet Drent

Why the EU should help former smugglers get a job: an integrated approach for Agadez (and beyond)

Fransje Molenaar

The Relevance of Geopolitics for Business

Frans-Paul van der Putten

Café Clingendael Podcasts

In mid-2017 Clingendael started producing podcasts to reach a new, wider audience. In these podcasts we invite experts from the Netherlands and abroad, including Clingendael experts, and politicians to share their insights and analyses with the public, thereby emphasising the Institute’s hub function. This series of podcasts is being expanded in 2018. Seven podcasts were released in 2017, through the website, social media and weekly Clingendael newsletter. All podcasts are available through the Clingendael website and SoundCloud.

Title of Podcast

Interviewee

The North Korea crisis

Sico van der Meer

The Middle East Peace Process 

Erwin van Veen

EU Migration Policies towards Niger

Fransje Molenaar

Rhissa Feltou, mayor of Agadez on Migration and the EU

Rhissa Feltou, Mayor of Agadez (in French)

Macron’s EU speech and European Defence

Margriet Drent

Jeroen Dijsselbloem on the future of the Eurozone

Jeroen Dijsselbloem

May’s Brexit speech

Rem Korteweg

Media

Clingendael experts increasingly provided commentaries in Dutch and foreign media on international developments and events. Our experts were also increasingly approached by media outlets in response to Clingendael publications. The number of media appearances has consequently been rising since 2016, with Clingendael appearing in the media on average twice a day:

Number of media appearances *
Number of media appearances *

* in Dutch and foreign media

A full list of media appearances can be found at our website. This list can be filtered by year and type of media appearance (Online, Radio, Paper/Magazine, TV/Video).

Foreign media

We have fulfilled our ambition of internationalising our visibility in the media; half of the media appearances in 2017 were in foreign media, including:

 

CNN

Washington Post

Wall Street Journal

Financial Times

The Guardian

Süddeutsche Zeitung

Politico

Rzeczpospolita

De Morgen

De Standaard

Reuters

Dutch Top-15

With regard to Dutch-language media, our experts appeared particularly in or on:

Medium

1

NOS.nl

2

BNR Nieuwsradio

3

NPO/Radio 1

4

De Volkskrant

5

Trouw

6

De Telegraaf

7

Bureau Buitenland (Radio)

8

De Morgen

9

NRC Handelsblad

10

NU.nl

11

Het Financieele Dagblad

12

EenVandaag (TV)

13

RTL Nieuws (TV)

14

De Standaard

15

Nederlands Dagblad

Op-eds

It is noteworthy that Clingendael also published more opinion articles in Dutch and foreign media in 2017 than in 2016. These op-eds are usually related to published Alerts or Policy Briefs:

Opinion articles
Opinion articles

Clingendael Magazine

In 2017, the Internationale Spectator celebrated its 70th anniversary with a relaunch, transforming into a bilingual online magazine retitled as Clingendael Spectator. The restyled magazine is bilingual in the sense that readers using a web browser in Dutch will see both Dutch and English articles, but visitors using a browser in any other language will only see English articles and dossiers (in the media landscape quite a unique construction). By serving a wider audience, Clingendael’s magazine stimulated the international exchange of views and knowledge on a broad range of international issues.

Almost 80 articles, columns and reviews in Dutch or English were published online by the Editorial Office in 2017, as well as the following ‘Dossiers’ appearing as web publications:

The number of subscribers to the Clingendael Spectator newsletter grew from 2,800 to 3,100; and extensive use was also made of the Spectator’s Twitter and Facebook accounts (over 3,000 followers all in all). The website attracted over 8,000 unique visitors every month.

The Editorial Office, which evaluates articles and other contributions during its weekly meetings, consisted of editor-in-chief Jan Rood, and managing editors Bram Peeters and Peter Schregardus. During 2017, three students served a four-months’ internship at the Editorial Office.

Public meetings

In order to strengthen the public debate function, the following public meetings were hosted or cohosted in 2017:

Public meetings of the Netherlands Society for International Affairs (NGIZ):

2 February 2017: Debate on Populism with Monika Sie, Nausica Marbee, Thierry Baudet, René Cuperus & Hans Wansink among others

24 February 2017: How United is the United States with Jocelyn Kiley among others

11 April 2017: Turkije voor en na het referendum with Joost Lagendijk among others

2 May 2017: De Franse Verkiezingen – Weg van Europa? with Niek Pas & Marnix Krop among others

31 May 2017: De Britse verkiezingen – Wat betekent dit voor Brexit? with Rem Korteweg & Margriet Drent among others

25 September 2017: De Duitse verkiezingen – Merkel opnieuw aan zet? with Hanco Jurgens, Monika Sie & Adriaan Schout among others

19 October 2017: Making Europe Great Again with Sven Biscop & Rem Korteweg

7 November 2017: Wat willen Macron, Merkel & Rutte voor Europa? with Stefan de Vries, Monika Sie & Wouter Meijer among others

14 November 2017: De Wil van het Volk? De erosie van de democratische rechtsstaat in Europa with Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Bastiaan Rijpkema, Thomas von der Dunk & Jan-Marinus Wiersma among others.

30 November 2017: Autonome wapensystemen binnen de krijgsmacht – wat geven we uit handen? with Leon Kester, Miriam Struyk & Frans Osinga among others.

14 December 2017: Nederland in de Veiligheidsraad with Peter van der Vliet & Marriët Schuurman among others.

NGIZ & Clingendael held the following meetings for young professionals:

NGIZ Club Clingendael on elections, democracy and populism (8 March 2017)

NGIZ Club Clingendael on climate as an opportunity?!? (11 October 2017)

NGIZ Club Clingendael on European defence cooperation (22 November 2017)

The local divisions of NGIZ (NGIZ Southern, Northern Netherlands, Rotterdam, Leiden, Amsterdam and Utrecht) held 20 meetings on a wide range of international subjects in 2017.

Expert meetings

Clingendael’s international hub function is also demonstrated by the contributions which Clingendael experts make to expert meetings and panel discussions in Europe and further afield. For example, our experts were invited to make substantive contributions to events in: Brussels (including during hearings of the European Parliament), Germany, Sweden, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Greece, Malta, Austria, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, the United States, Belarus, Russia, China, Japan, Myanmar, Australia and, of course, the Netherlands.

Clingendael also held the following expert meetings:

Former Dutch Finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem (c.) and Clingendael’s Sr. Research Fellow Rem Korteweg (l.) during a Future of Europe Breakfast Meeting on the European Monetary Union (December 2017).

Crisis Watch - Libya

Three Crises Alerts concerning Libya were published In 2017. On the basis of these alerts an expert meeting was organised at the Clingendael Institute and Kars de Bruijne took part in a hearing at the invitation of the European Parliament in August. The planned theme for 2008 is “Turkey”.

Clingendael expert meeting on Libya's militias, the Clingendael Institute, The Hague, August 2017