Book

On 11 September 2021 I published my Dutch language book Je wordt bedankt, Bin Laden: 20 jaar Nederland in Afghanistan (2001-2021) about two decades of Dutch engagement in Afghanistan and the surrounding political debate in the Netherlands, Following a deep dive into the Afghan context, it dissects the political debate around Dutch mission contributions in the final five chapters.

Graphic novel projects

In 2020 and 2021 I worked for Oxfam on the graphic novel Zahra: A policewoman in Afghanistan with the Spanish National Comic Award winning couple Cristina Durán and Miguel Ángel Giner Bou.

Documentary and video projects

With Chronoscoop I produced the documentary Afghanistan, Land of Wonders in 2009. This documentary was selected for the EdinDocs Festival in Scotland in 2010, shown on Dutch Television (NOVA; HollandDoc, Geschiedenis24), was part of Frontline Club events in several cities in Russia, and was featured on Rossiya channel 1. An article I wrote about the process of making the documentary was published in Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer.

I also worked on other Chronoscoop productions, including Angry Young Men? (2011) and Stormvogels van de Tsaar: Kozakken in de Nederlanden (2013) about the liberation of the Netherlands in 1813 by Cossacks.

Funded by the German Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Angry Young Men? was a video project I worked on with an Afghan film crew, interviewing Afghan youth in and around Kabul about their aspirations and hopes for a better future.

In Afyon, Turkey, I have worked with James Bayliss-Smith and Tjalling Kamminga on the short documentary The Black Fortress of Opium (Summer 2009) for the American TV channel CurrentTV.

Lastly, I worked on two music videos for the Valencian/Dominican artist Sandoval y la Muralla Latina.

Field research projects

For the University of Valencia, I developed and managed the project Public Security in Medellín: Building Human Security through Social Transformation of the Youth (2013-2015) focusing on the challenges and opportunities the youth face in the problematic neighbourhoods of Medellín, Colombia. The project was conducted in cooperation with the municipality of Medellín, the University of Antioqua, and supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. The project focused on the eastern periphery of the city of Medellín, including twelve neighbourhoods in the the comunas 1 (Popular), 3 (Manrique) and 8 (Villa Hermosa).

Earlier, I worked on several other field research projects for ICOS (2003-2014), mostly in Afghanistan but also in Turkey.

Technical and academic research projects

For the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), I researched and co-wrote the thematic chapter on alternative development of UNODC’s flagship publication, the World Drug Report 2015.

In 2017 I was the guest editor and co-writer of a special edition of UNODC’s Bulletin on Narcotics on alternative development: practices and reflections.

In 2021 and 2022 I was the lead researcher and writer for the Booklet on Drugs and the Environment of UNODC’s World Drug Report 2022.

Oral history projects

For Oxfam Novib, I worked on an oral history project in 2015, interviewing six predecessors who worked in Afghanistan for the organization in the 30 years that it has so far been active in the country.