Staff

Sami Faltas Sami Faltas is the Executive Director of CESS. Originally from Egypt, he grew up in the Netherlands and worked in Germany for several years before coming to CESS. He is trained as a political scientist, holds a doctorate in economics and has published widely on international affairs, disarmament and security. He is the co-author of Managing the Remnants of War: Micro-disarmament as an Element of Peace-building (2001) and the author of Arms Markets and Armament Policy: Naval Industries in NATO Europe (1986). In recent years, he has served as a consultant to the United Nations, UNDP, the OSCE, the World Bank and the governments of the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. His interests include the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants as a means of preventing violent conflict. Contact: samifaltas@cess.org

Peter Volten Peter Volten is Director at CESS and Professor in International Relations and Organisations at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He studied Political Science at the Free University of Amsterdam and received his Ph.D. in 1981 at Stanford University. In the 1980s he served concurrently as Professor of the History of War at the University of Utrecht and Director of Studies and Strategic Planning for the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands before joining the Institute for EastWest Studies (now the EastWest Institute) as Director of Research and Senior Vice-President for Programs and Policy in 1989. He set up the Centre for European Security Studies on moving to Groningen in 1993. Professor Volten has written extensively on security and defence issues, especially on the Soviet Union and East-West relations. He is editor of, among other works, Bound to Change: Consolidating Reform in East Central Europe (1992). Contact: p.m.e.volten@rug.nl

David Greenwood David Greenwood is Research Fellow at CESS and also a Visiting Professor at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia (Bulgaria) and a guest Director of Studies at the Czech Military Academy in Brno. An economist by training, his career has included public service, both military (in the UK's Royal Air Force) and civilian (as an Economic Adviser at the British Ministry of Defence), and academic employment - as Director of the Centre for Defence Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland - where he ran several major research projects. He is the author of Budgeting for Defence (1972), Resource Allocation and Resources Management in Defence: The Western Model (1995) and numerous other monographs, research reports, contributions to symposia, journal and newspaper articles. He has also undertaken many consultancy assignments in North America, Western Europe and Central Europe. In recent years he has done considerable work on aspects of military-economic transformation and transparency-building in CEECs. Contact: info@cess.org

Merijn Hartog Merijn Hartog is Programme Manager at CESS. In 2001 he graduated from the University of Groningen in Central and Eastern European Contemporary History. In his thesis he focused on the development of technical assistance in Central and Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. He made a comparison between the Dutch project programmes and European programmes such as PHARE and TACIS. Before coming to CESS he worked at the Amsterdam-based International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, gaining international project management experience. At CESS Merijn is the principal Programme Manager of the multi-year Starlink programme, he furthermore co-manages the DRINA and Turkey programme. Last year he wrote a paper on defence reform and PfP membership aspirations of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro. Contact: merijnhartog@cess.org

Joke Venema Joke Venema is CESS's Business Manager, responsible for the day-to-day conduct of all the organisation's administrative business. This includes keeping the Centre's financial affairs in good order, which is a challenging task for an institute that has to operate without the benefit of assured long-term core funding. Her duties also include provision of support for the visiting researchers and interns who come to CESS from time to time and the preparation of CESS publications. Contact: jokevenema@cess.org

Erik Sportel Erik Sportel is Programme Manager at CESS. In 2005 he not only graduated in International Relations and International Organisations at the University of Groningen but also in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at Utrecht University. Both his theses were on the Transdienstrian conflict in Moldova. One thesis focused on the mediation format of the Transdniestrian conflict and the other one focused on Russian strategies with regard to the conflict. In 2004 he did his internship at CESS’ partner institute in Moldova, the Institute for Public Policy (IPP). During this period Erik also conducted field research in Moldova and Transdniestria for his theses. After his studies he was a fellow at CESS for three months and he returned in September 2006 to become a full member of the CESS staff. At CESS Erik is the Programme Manager of the multi-year Moldova Parliament programme. Contact: eriksportel@cess.org

Henriette Bijleveld Henriette Bijleveld is administrative officer at CESS. Her working days are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. She is responsible for the website and the organisation's administrative day to day business. Henriette used to work at a travel agency, taking care of the financial administration. She started working for CESS at the beginning of February 2007. Contact: henriettebijleveld@cess.org

Ritske Bloemendaal Ritske Bloemendaal served with a mergent shipping line based in Hong Kong and called Koninklijke Java-China Paketvaart lijnen. Then he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, retiring as a captain in 2005. Before entering military diplomacy he served on board various ships in different capacities for a periode of twenty years. He worked in Washington DC as military diplomat and with the Naval Staff in The Hague as a Foreign Liaison officer. His last assignment for the Ministry of Defence was defence attaché in Ankara from 2000-2005. In this job, he cooperated closely with CESS during the early stages of our first Turkey programme (also see Editorial). He joined CESS officially as Programme Manager on 1 January 2007, to take charge of our new Turkey programme. As Ritske lives near The Hague with his family, he also keeps in touch with Netherlands government authorities for CESS. Contact: ritskebloemendaal@cess.org

Jos Boonstra Jos Boonstra was, until recently, Programme Manager at CESS. He studied at the University of Groningen and holds two MA degrees; one in Contemporary History and one in International Relations. After his internship at CESS, he joined the team in 2001. His main fields of expertise are good governance and security-sector reform in the Caucasus, South-East and Eastern Europe. Boonstra developed and implemented several programmes on these themes at CESS. Next to this he always took a keen interest in the enlargement processes of the EU and NATO and follows developments of other regional organisations – such as the OSCE – closely. On several occasions Boonstra gave presentations at workshops and conferences in ‘the region’ and lectured at the University of Groningen. Research undertaken and articles published mainly focused on Macedonia, Moldova (and the Transdniestrian conflict), Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey (in relation to EU membership). Jos has now left us to work for the Spanish organization Fundación par alas Relaciones Internationales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE) in Madrid, where he will focus on democracy and security in the Balkans, the Caucusus, Eastern Europe and Turkey. He has said goodbye to his former colleagues and CESS contacts, but not farewell as he hopes to meet them again in the future, in Groningen or ‘in the region’.

Margriet Drent Margriet Drent started her career at CESS and a few years later, in 1998, became Executive Director. For six years she fulfilled this crucial position with splendour and endurance. In 2004 she decided to fully focus on her main area of interest - academic research; something a CESS Executive Director can only scarcely locate time to due to a strained working schedule of travelling, fundraising and reporting. Currently Margriet Drent is pursuing a PhD at the University of Groningen in International Relations. Her research focuses on Europeanisation of security and defence, specifically studying the security identities of Germany and the United Kingdom in relation to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) of the EU. Fortunately for CESS, Margriet's new working place is located only 50 meters from CESS so we can always take the opportunity to use her experience with CESS-business and expertise in security-related affairs.