As a tribute to Leon Wecke and his work for the Radboud University's Centre for International Conflict - Analysis & Management (CICAM) and Dutch society, the CICAM awards the Leon Wecke Prize to a person working in the Netherlands who brings a critical and/or transversal voice to the public discussion around war, peace and international politics This may be a scientist, but also a publicist, a politician, an employee of an international (non-governmental) organisation, or a student This person's contribution(s) may take the form of articles in newspapers, blogs or weekly or professional journals, media appearances, lectures or lectures These activities are socially relevant, contribute an alternative view, are thought-provoking and challenge one to look at issues in a different way
Can is delighted with the award, all the more because of his affinity with Wecke's thinking. He first became met Wecke when working as a researcher for the TV programme Zembla (between 2005 and 2011). Wecke was one of his informants. “I really liked his way of explaining things. I feel a kinship with Leon because he was a pacifist at heart and he was quite rightly known as the king of the peace movement. Like him, I believe in a peaceful planet; better a bad peace than a good war.”
Attention for jihadists
The jury honours critical and transverse thinkers who contribute to the public debate on war, peace, and international politics. The jury report called Can's work ‘critical of injustice’, and praised him for his ‘nuance, depth and genuine interest in what drives people’. They mentioned specifically the De verloren kinderen van het Kalifaat (Lost Children of the Caliphate) and My 9/11 programmes, in which Can (from Afghanistan) teamed up with Floortje Dessing (from the US) to portray the global consequences of the attack.
In his Retour Kalifaat (Return to the Caliphate, 2021), Can investigated the motives of three Western jihadists captured in Syria. The jury report sees in this a kinship with the legacy of Wecke, who always sought a breakthrough in the prevailing black-and-white thinking about war and peace. Wecke also asked for attention for what drives people, especially those who, according to common perception, are guilty of ‘violence and terrorism’.
Asked about the current coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Can brings to attention a number of underexposed angles: “What I miss is the economic aspect of this war. How much is the military economy earning from it? Which companies, what kind of weapons? I also hear little about damage to nature.” In this ‘transverse sound’, we hear echoes of Wecke's lectures.
Leon Wecke Prize
Political scientist/polemologist, lecturer, columnist, inspiration and critical compass Leon Wecke (1932-2015) was involved in founding the Study Centre for Peace Issues 50 years ago and has since made an impressive contribution to the development of his institute, now the Centre for International Conflict - Analysis & Management (CICAM) at Radboud University Nijmegen As a university lecturer, he captivated generations of students with his lectures on war and conflict, peace and security He was also a master at ‘translating’ scientific insights for a wider, including non-university audience In hundreds of lectures and interviews, written and spoken columns, for fifty years Leon Wecke has demonstrated a critical, transverse vision of (international) security policy; a vision in which he knew how to interpret even the most complex developments with humour and the ability to put them into perspective. Leon was often seen as a ‘cross-thinker
Previous Leon Wecke Prize awards
2018 Carolien Roelants (NRC Handelsblad)
2020 Ko Colijn (Institute Clingedael)
Photo: Leon Wecke Prize laureate Sinan Can (right) with first laureate Carolien Roelant