Joris Van Bladel

Biography

Dr Joris Van Bladel studied Social and Military Sciences at the Royal Military academy in Brussels, Slavic Languages and Eastern European cultures at Ghent University, and holds a Doctor of Arts degree from the State University of Groningen. His PhD thesis was entitled: ‘The All-volunteer Force in the Russian Mirror: Transformation without Change’.

During and after his military career (1985-2006), he taught courses and guest lectures at several universities, including the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, the University of Amsterdam, Ghent University, The University of Uppsala, and the Technical University of Berlin. He was a guest researcher at the Center of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Toronto and at the German Institute of International and security affairs in Berlin. Currently, he is a member of the Scientific Board of the Austrian Ministry of Defense. He is a guest commentator on questions related to security & defense and Russian affairs.

Joris Van Bladel’s areas of expertise include Russian military and strategic culture, the Russian ‘soldiers question’, security & defense, (asymmetric) threat analysis, and Strategic forecasting.

He joined the Egmont Institute in March 2022 as a Senior Associate Fellow in the Europe in the World progamme.

Other publications

• “Der Ukraine-Konflikt, auf der Suche nach einer strategischen Linie und nach diplomatischen alternativen”[The Ukraine conflict, in search of a Strategic Line and diplomatic alternatives], in: Sicher; Und Morgen?, Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2015, Direktion für Sicherheitspolitik, Wien, Dezember 2014.
• “Russia: A Dispositional Regional Power, An Analysis of Russian Hybrid Power Projection Capabilities,” in Walter Feichtinger and Karl Fitsch (Eds.), Instruments of Hybrid Power Projection, Vienna: National Defense Academy, 2015.
• ‘De gebroken Spiegel, Turkije en Rusland op rampkoers’ [The Broken mirror’ Turkey and Russian heading towards disaster], in Gürkan Çelik en Thijl Sunier (Eds.’) Het Nieuwe Turkije, Europa’s naaste buur in perspectief [The New Turkey, Europe’s Close Neighborhood in Perspective], 2016.
• “Russlands Strategische Ausrichtung 2016”[Russia’s Strategic Direction 2016], in: Sicher, Und Morgen?, Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2016, Direktion für Sicherheitspolitik, Wien, Dezember 2015.
• “Russlands Kleinkrieg in der Ukraine: Wie der russische Adler seine Flügel schlägt.” [Russia’s Small War in Ukraine: How the Russian Eagle Beats its Wings], in: Walter Feichtinger und Christian Steppan (Eds.), Gordischer Knoten Ukraine, Eine Gesamtstrategische Betrachtung, Vienna: Militärwissenschaftliche Publikationsreihe der Landesverteidigungsakademie, 2017, pp. 203-223.
• ‘Russian-Turkish Relations at a Volatile Time’ in Roland J. Linden and Gürkan Çelik, Turkey’s Turbulent Journey, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, September 2019, pp. 201-214.

Publications

• Shifting Shadows: A Closer Look at Putin’s Latest Government Reshuffle Commentaries (15-05-2024)
• Stalin’s Shadow: Putin’s Response to the Moscow Terrorist Atrocity Commentaries (4-04-2024)
• Mass Matters: Understanding Russia’s Military Conduct and the Threat it Poses Commentaries (14-03-2024)
• Courage in the Face of Tyranny – Remembering Alexei Navalny Commentaries (19-02-2024)
• Beyond the Frontline Roar: Understanding Russia’s Societal Whispers Commentaries (17-01-2024)
• The Ticking Clock for Russia’s Endless War: Unveiling Silent Turmoil on Putin’s Second Front Egmont papers (19-12-2023)
• Measuring the Unmeasurable: Indicators of Russian State Resilience Egmont papers (19-10-2023)
• Beyond Russia’s Façade of Stability and Normalcy Commentaries (28-06-2023)
• Russia’s dangerous weakness Commentaries (26-06-2023)
• Captivated by war: The Russian People in the face of the Ukraine War, Mobilization, and Tactical Defeat Egmont papers (27-02-2023)
• Whom are we fighting? Some thoughts related to Russia’s latest mobilization plan Commentaries (3-10-2022)
• Russian Spring 2022 Recruitment Cycle: Putin’s Camouflaged Referendum? Security Policy Briefs (19-07-2022)
• The Unprofessional Russian Soldier Commentaries (20-05-2022)
• The Russian Soldiers’ Question Revisited Egmont papers (19-05-2022)
• Mobilizing Against Russia? Some Reflections on the Security Deadlock Called Ukraine Egmont papers (31-03-2022)