Jorrit Kamminga

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Jorrit Kamminga is the Director of Policy Research at The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), formerly known as The Senlis Council. The Council is an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris, and field offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City See ICOS's website for more information:

The Council provides innovative analysis and recommendations on the connections between foreign policy, security, development and counter-narcotics policies. It convenes politicians, high profile academics, independent experts and NGOs in order to accomplish its mission. It aims to work as the dialogue partner with senior policy-makers at the national and international levels in order to foster high-level exchanges and new ideas on bridging security, development and counter-narcotics policies.

In 2002, Mr Kamminga received a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, after the completion of a final thesis on the linkages between international terrorism and the global drug problem.See the website of the State University of Groningen for an overview in Dutch of Mr. Kamminga's past activities:. During this period, Mr. Kamminga worked at the Supply Reduction and Law Enforcement Section (SRLES) of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP, now UNODC) at its Headquarters in Vienna.

Following his studies, he worked for more than two years at the political section of the Netherlands´ Embassy in Madrid. Part of his portfolio were Spain’s bilateral relations with Morocco, Algeria and Cuba, and the policy issues Gibraltar, Western Sahara, ETA and international terrorism and Spain’s regional politics.

Mr. Kamminga has been working with ICOS since October 2003, spending roughly half of his time in Afghanistan. He has been working extensively in Kabul and southern Afghanistan (Kandahar and Helmand provinces), organizing events, conducting field research and delivering food and medical aid. In March 2007, Mr. Kamminga briefed both military and civilian staff at NATO’s Headquarters[1] about the security and development situation in southern Afghanistan.

As spokesperson and expert, Mr. Kamminga contributes regularly to various current affairs and political programmes including Al Jazeera, Channel One Russia, BBC Radio 5 Live, The World Today, BBC Mundo[2], CBC, CTV Television Network[3], France 24, Islam Channel, Voice of America, Press TV, and Deutsche Welle. He has been interviewed on several occasions by Reuters, Associated Press[4], EFE, El Mundo[5], El País[6], Bloomberg, The Guardian[7], Independent[8], Berliner Zeitung, Politiken, Klassekampen, Rzeczpospolita, etcetera. Mr. Kamminga has written opinion pieces for El País, the International Herald Tribune[9], The Washington Quarterly[10] and all major Dutch newspapers such as NRC Handelsblad[11], de Volkskrant and Trouw. Mr. Kamminga has been living in Spain since 2002, first in Cordoba then in Madrid, and now in Valencia.

Recently, Mr Kamminga appeared on The Islam Channel to discuss the significance of France’s largest military loss in Afghanistan to date. In July 2008, he spoke to Al Jazeera about poppy crop eradication, in response to an article written by the former US counter narcotics official Thomas Schweich. In August he spoke to Radio Netherlands about the Taliban’s increasing ability to seriously engage with international and Afghan forces.

He also wrote an Op-Ed for the Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos detailing the current need for Spanish troops to be re-deployed to the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan.

[edit] External links

• ICOS
• The Washington Quarterly, "Poppies for Peace: Reforming Afghanistan’s Opium Industry" (Winter 2006-2007, Volume 30 Number 1)
• International Herald Tribune, "How to beat the Opium Economy" (November 30, 2006)
• Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos (GEES)