This is the personal webpage of Robert Kluijver (born in Cyprus, 1968). I use it to publish blogs, articles that have appeared in the press (with link) or not, and reviews. In the top menu are links to other sites I have made and publications.

My profile as researcher at Sciences Po’s Center for International Studies (CERI) in Paris, in English and in French (updated 2026). Zie hier voor Nederlands (okt 2018)

I studied international relations in Amsterdam and Paris (PhD obtained in January 2023). I worked and undertook academic research in Central Asia (1997-2000), Afghanistan (2000-2007 and 2023-2024), the Middle East (2007-2015) and the Horn of Africa (2015 to now). I worked for the United Nations, the Open Society Institute, NGOs (MSF and INSO), donor organizations and a variety of other organizations (EU, World Bank, research institutes). I currently live in The Hague. I specialize in research and analysis of conflict and post-conflict situations with a focus on artistic and cultural development.

Since January 2025 I’ve been setting up a business called 2Mages to import sustainably produced and fairly traded frankincense and myrrh from Somaliland/Northern Somalia and sell them online as resins, essential oils and cosmetic products.

In the field of the arts I produced the first Pavilion of Afghanistan at the Venice Biennale (2005), and curated contemporary art exhibitions in the Netherlands, Paris, Berlin, Kabul, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India. 

From 2010 to 2016 I taught the courses ‘Contemporary Art and Geopolitics in the Arab World’ and ‘Lessons (not) Learnt in Afghanistan’ at the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po master program). From September 2016 to October 2022 I worked on my PhD ‘The State in Somalia: Between Self-Governance and International Order’. Since my successful defense I am continuing my academic research, publishing and lecturing activities, associated with the Paris-based Center for International Studies (CERI) and as visiting scholar at Leiden University.

Simultaneously I work as a consultant for international organizations; recently I have worked in Sudan and Somalia as a consultant on cultural development, assisting donors in supporting the creative sector, without creating imbalances or dependency.

CV of a maverick

Yearly highlight of professional activities undertaken, location and positions held

1996: My university degree interests no-one, but my job fixing cars in the streets of Vallecas (a suburb of Madrid) appeals to recruiters of Doctors Without Borders and kickstarts my international career. Jack of all trades surviving in Spain

1997: Loading two old Soviet ZIL trucks with medicine and sanitation construction materials in Osh, Kirghizia, and accompanying them on a 700 km night drive through the Pamir mountains. Admin-log on a mission of MSF France in Khorog, Tajikistan

1998: Browsing outdoor bookstores in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for my thesis on historiography in the newly independent republic. Master program in post-Soviet Studies, Sciences Po Paris

1999: Interview with a police investigator in Osh, Kirghizia about narcotics abuse among local youth. Freelancing researcher for the Observatoire Géopolitique des Drogues, Paris

2000: Hiding with my driver from Taliban guards as we visit the caves around the Buddhas of Bamiyan, which I document with a camera and a notebook shortly before their destruction. Program director in Kabul of the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage

2001: I see 9/11 happen on one of the only TVs connected to international news channels in Afghanistan, in the UN guesthouse in Kabul, with journalists covering the trial of US missionaries by the Taliban. Civil affairs officer of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan

2002: The governor of Uruzgan breaks down the door of our guesthouse with his massive body to let us in, impatient with the absence of the key. I have come by road with a senior Afghan delegation trying to convince him to allow Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban elections to take place in his province. Political affairs officer of the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan

2003: Grand opening of Kabul’s first cultural centre in a historic building downtown, open to all public, with an intense program of social and cultural activities. Executive director of the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society (FCCS)

2004: In Mazar-e Sharif to supervise the organization of the city’s first music festival to celebrate Nawroz: more than 50 musical performances and events in four locations during three days. FCCS executive director

2005: Meeting with George Soros in New York; he’s interested in what I can tell him about the situation in the country and supports my projects to bring the Theatre du Soleil to Kabul and set up the first Afghan pavilion in the Venice Biennale. Country Director OSI in Afghanistan

2006: Visiting community elders in Istalif (North of Kabul), discussing a project to improve livelihoods in this famous potters’ village. Consultant, Turquoise Mountain Foundation.

2007: Identifying two car wrecks from the attack on Al Mutanabbi street book market in war-torn Baghdad and exporting them for a series of events in the Netherlands, including my first major exhibition ‘Green Zone/Red Zone’ with contemporary Iraqi artists. Consultant, IKV Pax Christi.

2008: Organizing a conference involving Palestinian and Israeli architects and urban planners about the city of Jerusalem in Gemak, the art centre I have established downtown The Hague. Curator, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

2009: Working on Afghan elections and candidate awareness and realizing Afghans have lost hope in democracy and that the country is becoming unsafe for people like me. Consultant, National Democratic Institute, Kabul

2010: Visit to the harrowing Red Prison of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, as part of a program to establish an arts and culture network in Iraq. Consultant for Hivos, Netherlands

2011: Convening a workshop in post-revolution Cairo for Arts Collaboratory, a network of artist-led cultural organizations from around the world. Consultant, Dutch Mondriaan Foundation & Stichting Doen

2012: Curating an exhibition in Jeddah, chairing a terrorist conference in Berlin, launch of the Gulf Art Guide, assistant curator of the first Kochi Biennale in India. Independent curator

2013: Pitching my idea to the Minister of Interior in Sanaa for a TV series (designed with input from local civil society and musicians) to set new role models for the police. Expert hired by France Expertise Internationale for a EU-funded Security Sector Reform mission in Yemen

2014: Visit to the historic ruins of Bahrain with young Arab artists to investigate possible links between pre-Islamic heritage and contemporary socio-cultural change in the Gulf through art. Fellow of New York University Abu Dhabi with the research project ‘Searching for Ancient Arabia’.

2015: Accompanying the Minister for Women’s Affairs in Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan on a 3-day tour of the liberated stateless area; I give a lecture at a woman’s university in Amuda about political theories of the State. Invited by Jonas Staal as a curator/author

2016: Role-play with students of the course ‘Lessons Not Learnt in Afghanistan’ that I teach at Sciences Po, Paris: we simulate peace negotiations in Raqqa, Syria, more than a year before similar negotiations really take place. Lecturer at the Paris School of International Affairs

2017: Meeting with elders in Taleeh, Somaliland, who during a visit of the ruined fort of the ‘Mad Mullah’ tell me I am the first white person to visit in two years. Head Analysis of the International NGO Safety Organisation in Somalia

2018: Exchanging information with members of the UN Panel of Experts on Somalia during evening meetings in beautiful locations around Nairobi. PhD research on the State in Somalia

2019: After shaking off mandatory police escorts I drive to Bur’o in Somaliland to interview one of the founders of Al Shabaab. On the way back I retrieve two of seven ancient Somali statues I acquired a year ago, but that went missing, in a pile of junk in the port of Berbera. PhD research

2020: Tricky visit to Beled Weyne, Central Somalia, to assess the impact of Al Shabaab on the cultural/creative sector in this town. The insurgents seem to be following us, nobody speaks freely. On our way out I am nearly arrested by AMISOM soldiers who believe I must be working with the terrorists. Lead consultant with Aleph Strategies on a baseline survey for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the cultural sector in Somali regions of the Horn of Africa

2021: Tour of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, with the Somali imam of a neighbourhood; evening talk and Q&A with his students learning English, sitting on wooden benches in the courtyard of his mosque. Lead consultant with Aleph Strategies for SDC

2022: Meetings at the self-governing Omdurman cultural center in Khartoum. The youth I meet are articulate, efficient, driven and no longer believe in the principle of political representation – only in direct participation. I fall in love with the Sudanese revolution. Consultant for the Cultural Relations Platform on a creative sector support program of the EU delegation in Sudan

2023: Visit to a fair of Afghan women entrepreneurs in Kabul. I’m not allowed in, being a man, so I spend an hour drinking tea and discussing women’s employment with the senior Taliban officials who have organized the fair. Senior strategic advisor for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Afghanistan

2024: Travel through Northern Afghanistan with the Afghan filmmaker Barmak Akram to document how Afghan farmers adapt to climate change; later we make a six-minute teaser for the documentary we hope to make. The off-camera interview with the head of our Taliban escort is the most interesting part. Head of communications, strategy and resource mobilization for FAO Afghanistan

2025: Visit to Sheffield, UK, to meet the Somali counterpart of what will be my new business: Amina Souleiman of Beeyo Maal women’s cooperative introduces me to the wonderful world of frankincense and myrrh. Independent entrepreneur, founder of 2Mages.