Joep Schenk will attend the conference ‘The Yangtze and the Rhine: A historical conference’ in Leiden. The conference is organized in cooperation with the University of Shanghai, the University of Leiden, the Erasmus School for History, Culture and Communication, the Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, the N.W. Posthumus Institute, the Port Authority Rotterdam and the Rotterdam Centre…

The introduction of steam-powered boats on the Rhine brought fear of unemployment to local sailors. Despite tensions, the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine acted as an international dispute resolver.

Despite Napoleon’s military, economic and political river policies, the Rhine attracted its first tourists in the early 19th century.

Egypt’s aggressive attitude against Ethiopia’s Dam project on the Nile is understandable in terms of water security. Yet, Cairo might benefit from a more cooperative approach.

Ascending protectionist economic policies have created a context in which hostile takeovers are understood as a threat to national security, forcing national governments to act.

Great Powers are pivotal in reordering the international order after major crises. Yet, in tackling the current climate problem the input of smaller powers might be paramount.

Joep Schenk was interviewed by Nieuwsblad Transport on the Rhine Commission (Central Commission for Navigation of the Rhine, CCNR) and its contribution to the creation of a European security culture in the nineteenth century. The article was published in issue 19, volume 29 (2016), pp. 16-17.

By presenting themselves as the European bulwark against an urgent threat, European governments have repeatedly employed ‘othering’ to gain legitimacy.

When looking at the situation in Iraq and Syria today, a clear relation between water, power and security can be discerned. By extending its control over the course of the Euphrates and the Tigris, ISIS expands its influence within the territory of what was once called Mesopotamia: the Land of Two Rivers. Though water might…

By dr. Joep Schenk – In historiography, nineteenth-century Europe is generally seen as a place shaped by power politics and bellicose nationalism. Rarely has the nineteenth century been perceived as a period in which common principles were enunciated and nation states established solid international bodies in order to cooperate in pursuit of limited, manageable ends. Operational to this…