Nikolaos (Koos) van Dam (born 1 April 1945) is a Dutch scholar and author on the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He also was a Dutch

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Education and career

Van Dam studied Arabic Language and Islam, as well as Political and Social Sciences, in which he received a M.A. degree (

doctorandus Doctorandus (; ; drs.) is a Dutch academic title according to the pre- Bachelor– Master system. The female form is doctoranda (dra.; this form is not commonly used). The title is acquired by passing the ''doctoraalexamen'', the exam which usua ...

) ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

in 1973. He subsequently obtained a Ph.D. degree in

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at the same university in 1977. He taught Modern Middle Eastern History at the

(1970–75), was First Secretary at the Netherlands Embassy in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, covering Lebanon, Jordan and Cyprus (1980–83), Chargé d'Affaires of the Netherlands in

Tripoli, Libya Tripoli, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West, is the capital city, capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.317 million people in 2021. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point ...

(1983–85), and Deputy Director for African and Middle Eastern Affairs at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1985–88). He was also Ambassador of the Netherlands in

Baghdad, Iraq Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

(1988–91; accredited until 2004), in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, covering Egypt and Palestinian occupied territories (1991–96), in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, covering Turkey and Azerbaijan (1996–99), in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

(1999–2005), and in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

(2005-2010), covering Indonesia and

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Author

He is the author of ''The struggle for power in Syria: sectarianism, regionalism, and tribalism in politics, 1961–1978'', الصراع على السلطة فى سوريا: الطائفية واﻹقليمية والعشائرية فى السياسة – الطبعة الإلكترونية,

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

, 1979, , and the subsequent ''The struggle for power in Syria: sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism in politics, 1961–1994'', 1995.

Honours

Order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

(Netherlands) **Officer (1991) **Knight (1983) *Knight Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(2005) *Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dam, Nikolaos van 1945 births Living people 20th-century Dutch historians Historians of the Middle East Writers from Amsterdam Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Turkey Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Iraq Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Egypt Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Azerbaijan Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Germany Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Indonesia Officers of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg University of Amsterdam alumni