Biography

Friso Stevens is a China and East Asian affairs specialist. During his Ph.D. programme at Leiden University he studied the relationship between China’s bureaucratic and elite politics, and changes in its foreign policy, operating on the nexus between international security studies, strategy, and China studies. The dissertation revolves around the debate on the resurgence of China, its strategic implications for the broader Asia-Pacific, and how China’s quest for ‘rejuvenation’ is driven by socio-historical and ideational factors. Friso has a special knack for deciphering the intricacies of CCP propaganda and organizational doctrine. Other research interests include US foreign and defence policy, European (economic) security, and the changing global power configuration and world order. During his time in Florence, Friso aims to chart an alternative path for Europe in the looming new Sino-American Cold War while safeguarding its long-term security and prosperity.

Disciplinarily eclectic, Friso is a neoclassical realist with a ‘critical’ bend, he believes in the power of ideas, and has an affinity with Allison’s bureaucratic politics model. On the diplomatic side, Friso is particularly interested in how entrenched security dilemmas and constructed identities of enmity can be ameliorated, and eventually what Booth and Wheeler call ‘transcended’ using Game Theory models and English School institutions.
A lecturer in the B.A. Political Science programme at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 2017-2020, Friso is eager to teach and supervise all of the above.