The independent resource on global security
Dr Jaïr van der Lijn
Programme Director (Non-resident)
Dr Jaïr van der Lijn
Dr Jaïr van der Lijn is a Senior Researcher and Director of the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme. Jair joined SIPRI in 2013. He is also affiliated with the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. 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.
As part of the New Geopolitics of Peace Operations initiative he 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, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan and Sudan. He also has an extensive background in future foresight and scenario planning.
Subject expertise
Conflict resolution; conflict management; peace building; peace operations; military operations; multilateral security organisations; United Nations; African Union; rising powers in peace operations; international and regional security; complexity; comprehensive approaches in conflict management; asymmetric threats and non-traditional challenges; future foresight; scenarios methodology; evaluation
Regional expertise
Africa, Afghanistan, Balkans
CONTACT Dr Jaïr van der Lijn
Languages
Dutch, English, German
Education
PhD in Conflict Management, Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management, Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Citizenship
Netherlands
Affiliations
- Associate Fellow, Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Senior Research Fellow, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’
- Associate Editor, Journal of International Peacekeeping
SIPRI COMMENTARY
- China, Russia and the future of peacebuilding (Topical backgrounder, )
- Multilateral peace operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021 (Topical backgrounder, )
- Success of Joint Force Sahel depends on local actor engagement (Blog, )
- Renewal of MINUSMA: A missed opportunity for new generation of DDR (Blog, )
- The state of peace operations: An interview with Lakhdar Brahimi (Topical backgrounder, )
SIPRI AND PARTNER PUBLICATIONS
- Fit For Purpose: Effective Peace Operation Partnerships in an Era of Non-Traditional Security Challenges (SIPRI, Stockholm: February 2024)
- No Exit, Without an Entry Strategy: Transitioning UNMISS SSR Activities (SIPRI, Stockholm : March 2023)
- EU Military Training Missions: A Synthesis Report (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2022)
- The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Multilateral Peace Operations (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2022)
- Women in Multilateral Peace Operations in 2021: What is the State of Play? (SIPRI, Stockholm: November 2021)
- Trends in Multilateral Peace Operations, 2019 (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2020)
- Women in Multilateral Peace Operations in 2020: What’s the State of Play? (SIPRI, Stockholm: October 2020)
- Multilateral Peace Operations and the Challenges of Irregular Migration and Human Trafficking (June 2019)
- Security and Justice in CAR and the DRC: International Aims, Local Expectations (November 2019)
- Securing Legitimate Stability in CAR: External Assumptions and Local Perspectives (SIPRI, Stockholm: September 2019)
- Towards Legitimate Stability in CAR and the DRC: External Assumptions and Local Perspectives (SIPRI, Stockholm: September 2019)
- Securing Legitimate Stability in the DRC: External Assumptions and Local Perspectives (SIPRI, Stockholm: September 2019)
- Multilateral Peace Operations and the Challenges of Organized Crime (February 2018)
- African Directions: Towards an Equitable Partnership in Peace Operations (February 2017)
- Scenarios for South Sudan in 2020: Peace: The Only Thing Worth Fighting For (January 2016) 60 pp.
- SIPRI Map of Multilateral Peace Operations, 2016 (September 2016)
- The Future Peace Operations Landscape: Voices from Stakeholders around the Globe (SIPRI, Stockholm: January 2015) 90pp.
- Peacekeepers Under Threat? Fatality Trends in UN Peace Operations (September 2015) 12 pp.
- Peacekeepers at Risk: The Lethality of Peace Operations (February 2014) 8 pp.
- Development Assistance in Afghanistan after 2014: From the Military Exit Strategy to a Civilian Entry Strategy (October 2013) 16 pp.
External publications
- Hickendorff, A. and van der Lijn, J., Report: Civil Society Workshop on the Future of Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations Peacekeeping (2021)
- van der Lijn, J., For the long run. A mapping of migration-related activities in the wider Sahel region, Clingendael (January 2017)
- van der Lijn, J. and Smit, T., 'Challenges and opportunities for peace operations data collection: experiences from the SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database', in Clayton, G. (ed.), The known knowns and known unknowns of peacekeeping data, International Peacekeeping, 24:1, 1-62, at 23-28 (Sep. 2016)
- van der Laan, F. et al., The Future of Police Missions, Clingendael Report, Clingendael (Feb. 2016)
- Björkdahl, A. et al., 'Introduction: peacebuilding through the lens of friction', eds Björkdahl, A. et al., Peacebuilding and Friction: Global and Local Encounters in Post Conflict-Societies (Routledge: London, New York, 2016), pp. 1–16.
- van der Lijn, J., 'Frictions in illusionstan: Engagement between the ‘global’ and the ‘local’ in Afghanistan’s imagination-building', eds Björkdahl, A. et al., Peacebuilding and Friction: Global and Local Encounters in Post Conflict-Societies (Routledge: London, New York, 2016), pp. 155–171.
- Björkdahl, A. et al., 'Conclusions: peacebuilding and the significance of friction', eds Björkdahl, A. et al., Peacebuilding and Friction: Global and Local Encounters in Post Conflict-Societies (Routledge: London, New York, 2016), pp. 203–213.
- van der Lijn, J., 'Comprehensive approaches, diverse coherences: the different levels of policy coherence in the Dutch 3D approach in Afghanistan', Small Wars and Insurgencies, vol. 26, no. 1 (2015), pp. 72–89.
- van der Lijn, J. and Avezov, X., The Future Peace Operations Landscape: Voices from stakeholders around the globe, SIPRI Report (Jan. 2015)
- Avezov, X., van der Lijn, J. and Mueller-Hennig, M., Peace Operations in a Changing World Order: Unpacking Core Challenges, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Nov. 2014)
- van der Lijn, J., et al., Peacekeeping operations in a changing world, The Hague: Clingendael Institute (June 2014)
- van der Lijn, J., Avezov, X., Peace operations in a multipolar world: a surprising consensus, SIPRI Essay (Sep. 2014)
- van der Lijn, J., 'Protection of civilians: time to rethink the concept', SIPRI Essay, July–Aug, 2013.
- Millar G., van der Lijn, J. and Verkoren W., 'Peacebuilding plans and local reconfigurations: frictions between imported processes and indigenous practices', International Peacekeeping, vol. 20, no. 2 (2013), pp. 137–43.
- van der Lijn, J., 'Imagi-nation building in Illusionstan: Afghanistan, where dilemmas become dogmas, and models are perceived to be reality', International Peacekeeping, vol. 20, no. 2 (2013), pp. 173–88.
- van der Lijn, J., Afghanistan post-2014: groping in the dark?, The Hague: Clingendael Institute (May 2013)
- van der Lijn, J., The future of peace operations, The Hague: Clingendael Institute (Jan. 2013)
- van der Lijn, J., Contributor profile: The Netherlands, [with Stefanie Ros] International Peace Institute (Sep. 2012)
- Janssen, F., Van der Lijn, J., and Roborgh, S., 'Syria in 2013: preparing for persistent turmoil?', The Hague: Clingendael Institute (Aug. 2012)
- van der Lijn, J. and Marijnen, E., ‘Rwanda 2025: scenarios for the future political stability of Rwanda’, M. Campioni and P. Noack (eds), Rwanda Fast: Social, Economic, Military and Reconciliation Prospects (Palgrave MacMillan: New York, 2012), pp. 13–28.
- van der Lijn, J. and Teftedarija, A., Continuity and uncertainty in a changing world, Clingendael Institute Strategic Monitor 2012 (Feb. 2012)
- van der Lijn, J., 3D: the next generation: lessons learned from Uruzgan for future operations, Cordaid and Clingendael Institute, The Hague (Nov. 2011).
- van der Lijn, J., ‘Crystal balling future threats 2020–2030: security foresights of "actors" and drivers in perspective’, Defense and Security Analysis, vol. 27, no. 2 (2011), pp.149–67.