In 2007 Dr. Rob de Wijk assumed the position of Director of the The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

He is also Professor of International Relations at the University of Leiden and Chairman of the National Security Think Tank, advising the Government on defence and national security issues, including contingency plans for crisis management and Columnist for Trouw.

From 1999 to 2008 he was Professor in the field of International Relations at the Royal Netherlands Military Academy (RNMA), Breda. From 2000 to 2003 he was Director of the Research Centre of the RNMA.

Rob de Wijk studied Contemporary History and International Relations in Groningen, and wrote his dissertation on NATO's strategy of Flexibility in Response at the Political Science Department of Leiden University (1989).

Rob de Wijk started his career in 1977 as a freelance journalist. In 1980 he became editor-in-chief of a publishing company specialising in journals and scientific publications.

From 1985 to 1989 he worked at the University of Leiden's Political Science Department. He was a lecturer in international relations, focusing particularly on international security. At the same time he worked as a journalist.

In October 1989 Rob de Wijk was appointed Head of the Defence Concepts Division of the Defence Staff at the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. He advised the Chief of the Defence Staff and the minister of defence in matters relating to strategic plans and policy. At the national level he laid the foundation of the Defence White Paper 1991 and the Defence Priorities Review, published in 1993, as well as other policy guidelines. These white papers contain the plans for the reorganisation and the reduction of the Netherlands armed forces and for restructuring them from regular and conscript forces into all-volunteer forces. He was also responsible for the development of strategic management methods at the Ministry of Defence.

In September 1997 he acquired a secondment with the Clingendael Institute for International Relations in The Hague to study security and defence. In 2003 he established the Clingendael Centre for Strategic Studies. Additionally, in 2005 he became the director of the Clingendael Security and Conflict Program.

His main fields of expertise are (national and international) security, defence, and terrorism.

Rob de Wijk was born in 1954, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.