About

ChinaGeopolitics

Research and advice on China and geopolitics

Foto: Serge Ligtenberg

Frans-Paul van der Putten

As the son of a Dutch father and a Eurasian-Chinese mother, I am fascinated by a number of questions that run like a thread through my entire career as a researcher: how do different parts of the world influence each other? What legacy of our colonial history do we carry with us as people and as societies? How did we shape history and how does it shape us today? What is the perspective of the other in this? How can we make it possible for cultures and states to live together without giving up their own values? How can companies cope with geopolitical risks?

Profile

Dr Frans-Paul van der Putten is a Netherlands-based independent researcher and consultant on China and geopolitics. He has non-employee affiliations with the Clingendael Institute (as a senior research Associate) and LeidenAsiaCentre (as a Researcher). He studied history at Leiden University (1988-1994), where he obtained his PhD in 2001 with a dissertation on the China strategies of Dutch companies in the first half of the twentieth century. He worked for five years as a researcher on corporate social responsibility at Nyenrode Business University (2001-2006) and is a former editor-in-chief of Itinerario: Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions (published by Cambridge University Press) Frans-Paul is a former senior research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute (2007-2022), where he co-founded and acted as the coordinator of the China Center (2019-2022) and as coordinating editor of Silk Road Headlines (2015-2022).

CV

1970 Born in Helmond, Netherlands

1982-1988 Gymnasium (St Willibrord, Deurne)

1988-1994 MA History (Leiden University)

1991 First visit to China

2001 PhD, Dutch business strategies in China 1903-1941 (Leiden University)

2001-2006 Researcher International Corporate Social Responsibility

(European Institute for Business Ethics, Nyenrode Business University)

2003-2006 Editor, Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions Itinerario

2006-2012 Chief Editor, Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions Itinerario

2007-2022 (Senior) Research Fellow,

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael