Wietse van den Berge
Wietse van den Berge a Research Fellow at ICCT. He studied political science at Leiden University, specialising in international relations and political philosophy. After graduating in 2002, he joined the Royal Netherlands Air Force and attended the Royal Netherlands Military Academy. A 12-month internship at the academy’s military science faculty followed completion of his officer training, researching military history and military operations. Wietse held several ranks within the Air Force and in 2011-2012 he served as a military observer for the United Nations in the Middle East. He was triggered by personally witnessing the Arab uprisings in that region to return to his academic career. Since joining Leiden University’s the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) in 2013, his focus centres on political violence in contemporary Middle Eastern conflicts. Within ICCT, Wietse is involved in a project concerning foreign terrorist fighters.
In the context of the proliferation of extremist hate speech in Europe in recent years, legislative provisions have been enacted that inevitably resulted in potentially substantial limitations on the right to freedom of speech. A number of individuals have been subjected to onerous administrative measures in relation to their speech – sometimes after a criminal […]
Strategic communications in CVE—sometimes referred to as “counter-narratives” or “alternative narratives”—are difficult. They are often maligned for a lack of evidence demonstrating their effectiveness, or worse, that they may have a detrimental effect. In this Perspective, we draw on findings from a recent study which suggests that strategic communications campaigns may rely too heavily on […]
In this Perspective, Tanya Mehra critically analyses the current European approach to repatriating foreign fighters