Prof. Dr. Dirk Debeaussaert
He graduated as an Arabist and Islamologist from the University of Leuven and is Doctor in the Eastern Languages and Cultures from Ghent University. He was the first Flemish assistant director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo, held different functions mostly related to combatting radicalism and terrorism in the Belgian security service, and was advisor to the minister of the Interior on radicalism and terrorism. His field of academic interest is modernism in islam, especially state in islam, and national security.