Robin van Boxtel

Robin van Boxtel is an external PhD candidate at the World Trade Institute, researching the geo-economic relations between the European Union and resource-producing countries in the Global South, under supervision of Prof. Manfred Elsig. Robin examines how the EU's critical raw materials cooperation frameworks shape interdependence with producer states under conditions of weaponised supply, and how those states hedge between different great powers.

Robin is a Dutch diplomat and political economist. He currently serves as Economic & Financial Counselor at the Netherlands Permanent Delegation to the OECD in Paris, where he covers a broad portfolio of economic, trade and financial policy issues.

Previously, Robin headed the Climate, Energy, Raw Materials and Water cluster at the Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta, served at the Netherlands Embassy in Kyiv and coordinated the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs' engagement with the IMF and the World Bank. Earlier in his career he worked at Fitch Ratings in London and lectured at Leiden University.

Robin holds a master’s degree (with distinction) in International Political Economy from King’s College London. His bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam combined a specialisation in International Relations with a minor in European Economics.

Robin's research interests centre on economic resilience, trade, industrial policy and resource security. He also writes regularly on these themes for Dutch journals and newspapers.