Prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf

Distinguished Faculty Professor
History of International Relations
b.a.degraaf@uu.nl

“Teaching and studying history, for example the history of security measures, terrorism and counterterrorism, helps us to put current-day fears and anxieties in perspective.”


Research focus: history of security, crisis, (counter)terrorism and international relations


Beatrice de Graaf is a historian and a security, crisis & terrorism researcher. Her research focuses on how states and societies try to maintain high levels of security, how they handle crisis, and how these attempts relate to core values and institutions (democracy, freedom, rule of law, constitutional and responsible government). She studies the emergence of and threats to such security arrangements from the 19th century until the present, including in times where both the effectiveness and the legitimacy of these arrangements were at risk. As a strong science communicator, Beatrice appears on (international) television and radio stations, and in newspapers. Beatrice contributes to internationally leading networks in the field of conflict and security, crisis, and terrorism and political violence. She is core editor of Terrorism and Political Violence and Journal of Modern European History.
 

Beatrice de Graaf is Scientific Director of Adapt!. The Adapt Academy was founded in January 2025 with a NWO Gravitation grant. Adapt! consists of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from different universities. Together, they aim to conduct research on how societies can best navigate through crises. The main research question is: What explains successful versus unsuccessful societal responses to a crisis, and how can these lessons be translated into adaptive strategies that societies can use to boost their capability to navigate future crises? 

 

Beatrice de Graaf is a member of the core team of Security for Open Societies (SOS). Here researchers work together with social partners to find answers to current social issues about security, democracy and freedom.

Beatrice de Graaf is lead developer of the TerInfo project, an open source platform for primary schools, secondary schools and higher education to prepare material on sensitive issues such as terrorism, conflict and radicalization for use in the classroom. Beatrice is a member of The Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and a member of the Academia Europaea (EA). In 2018, Beatrice de Graaf was awarded with the NWO Stevin Prize, one of the highest honours in Dutch Academia. As of 1 December 2019, Beatrice has been appointed Distinguished Professor. In 2022, De Graaf won the Arenberg European Prize for the Best Book in European History (2020-2022) for her book Fighting Terror after Napoleon: How Europe Became Secure after 1815. In 2022, she also won the Comenius Prize. With her team, she obtained the NWO Gravitation grant for the Adapt-Academy in 2024. 
 

Areas of interest:

  • Terrorism and radicalisation
  • Crises
  • National and international security
  • History of international relations, specifically war, conflict and orders of peace
  • Intelligence, espionage
  • Modern history of Germany, the Netherlands, Europe



Recent work

 


Profile picture: (C) David van Dam/De Beeldunie.

 

Chair
History of International Relations & Global Governance