The chief aim of this study is to explore how classical Persian poetry and the Persian mysticism that is interwoven with the poetry have been used in the new politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially during the Iran-Iraq war.

The controversial Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court is one of many other judiciary reforms which the PiS, the Polish nationalist ruling party, carried out since 2015. The Disciplinary Chamber allows for judges to be fined, degraded and discharged. Von der Leyen expects the highest European…

Jorrit Rijpma, Professor of European Law, together with Greek independent researcher Apostolis Fotiadis, investigated the European Commission’s enforcement powers in relation to fundamental rights compliance at Europe’s external borders. The study was commissioned and funded by the Greens Group of the…

On 10 July 2020, the final of the European Law Moot Court Competition took place online before an impressive line-up of academics and practitioners of EU law.

Political scientist Tom Theuns (Leiden University) has been awarded a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This means that he is recognised as a promising researcher and that he will receive support to develop his ideas further for a period of three years. Theuns will focus on the role…

As a Leiden University’s master’s student in Political Science you conduct independent research and report your findings to fellow academics and, who knows, to a larger audience. Your thesis is a showcase of your academic skills and personal interest, and perhaps even passion. Easier said than done,…

The new European migration pact is intended to speed up the asylum process in Europe. A pragmatic and realistic plan that will at last provide a fast and fair handling of asylum applications in Europe.

Statements made by Caroline van der Plas about nitrogen emissions and European law are incorrect: Armin Cuvyers on Dutch radio EenVandaag programme’s item ‘fact or fiction’.

From 14 to 15 September 2023, Simona Demkova, AI researcher at the Europa Institute, participated in the INDIGO Project Final Conference, where she provided valuable perspectives on the implications of AI for European public law.

The postdoc received the 2020 Thesis Prize for her PhD research on the role of the EU Member States in regulating and remedying corporate human rights violations.

Urgent sociatal challenges such as global warming, international security and migration can not be solved by national parliaments. The House of Representatives loses control over problems that are being tackled at European level. The recommendations of the state commission are inadequate.

Brexit has been a kind of shock therapy for the EU and has eventually led to more appreciation for European cooperation. That is what Professor Luuk van Middelaar claimed on 30 November at the conference ‘Brexit and the future of the European Union’ which marked the 60th anniversary of the Europa Institute…

The Member States of the European Union do not intervene when a Member State disrespects the values of the European Union, Judith Sargentini, member of the GroenLinks party at the European Parliament, said at the annual Europa Lecture on 9 May in the Lorentzzaal of the KOG Building.

Just a week before Eurojust announced its participation in joint operation “Pollino”, one of the biggest joint investigations to date, a group of 20 students of the Master in European Law, visited the headquarters of Eurojust in The Hague.

Leiden scientists will be working on the development of a camera for the European Extremely Large Telescope that is currently under construction. On 28 September the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy signed an agreement with the European Southern Observatory.

The starting hypothesis of the project is that secrecy is not always inimical to democratic governance as conventional wisdom has it.

Europe in lockdown: Member States acted on their own initiative to into lockdown, and all back to normal at the same time? It’s not that simple, and it doesn’t have to be.

On 8 and 9 May Jorrit Rijpma, Associate Professor at the Europa Institute, participated in the workshop on a comprehensive feasibility study on an ASEAN common visa in Kuala Lumpur.

Professor Steven Truxal was invited to address the 15th European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Forum of Directors General in Paris on 6 December 2022.

On 24 May 2022, Christa Tobler gave a lecture on 'EU-Swiss Legal Relations: Why do we still not have an Energy Agreement?'

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) received a grant from the EU Erasmus+ strategic partnership fund to lead a European Network on European Teaching Excellence (E-Note).

On 31 January 2024, Alex Schilin defended his dissertation ‘United in Distinctiveness: The Institutionalisation of Differentiated Integration in Economic and Monetary Union during the Sovereign Debt Crisis.’ What motivated him to research this specific topic, and how did he tackle this project? And…

On the 2nd of June 2021, students of the LL.M. European Law program and staff of the Europa Institute got together to ‘celebrate’ the end of teaching in the academic year 2020/2021.

Vasiliki Kosta presented her research on ‘The EU fundamental right to freedom of the arts and sciences: exploring the limits on the commercialisation of academia' at the Maastricht Centre for European Law on 28 February 2023. The seminar was convened by Dr Annalisa Volpato, and Dr Vigjilenza Abazi acted…

It is often said that the links between political parties in Africa and their voters are clientelist, rather than programmatic. The familiar image is that of African ‘big men’, displaying personal wealth while being respected and celebrated in the community for sharing their riches. Yet, political scientist…

Why did India develop a strong military partnership with the state of Irael, after having ignored it for 42 years? How could both countries develop defense ties in spite of limited political leadership involvement? Finally, what are the prospects for defense relations as India grows to become one of…

The present volume focuses on the political perceptions of the Hajj, its global religious appeal to Muslims, and the European struggle for influence and supremacy in the Muslim world in the age of pre-colonial and colonial empires.

From 30 January 2020 to 1 February 2020, the Europa Institute of Leiden Law School hosted the first regional final of the 2019/2020 edition of the European Law Moot Court (ELMC) competition.

Migrants are far less of a burden on the budget of European countries than is often thought. This is the conclusion of research by economists from Leiden University.

Migrants are far less of a burden on the budget of European countries than is often thought. This is the conclusion of research by economists from Leiden University.

In ‘Dimensions of Free Speech’, Devrim Kabasakal Badamchi (Leiden University Institute of Political Science) offers a new theoretical framework for free speech by critically analysing the major justifications for free speech. Kabasakal Badamchi argues for a justification: namely the double-grounded…

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University) explains why Mozambique is not (yet) a success story.

The 7th Pan-European Conference on the European Union hosted from 5 until 7 June 2014 by the Campus The Hague was a success.

Political scientist Simon Otjes (Leiden University) receives a grant from The Dutch Research Council (NWO). The grant is part of the SGW Open Competition XS, which aims to stimulate innovative scientific research within the Social Sciences and Humanities domain. Otjes receives the grant for his research…

Tradition has it that at the end of each academic year, the best master’s thesis in Political Science is awarded a prize. For 2021-2022, the jury is considering six nominations. All of great quality, but on different topics. These range from political party bans to questions regarding commitment within…

The thesis is a major milestone for master students graduating in Political Science. It demonstrates their ability to conduct research independently and to provide a thorough, objective and sound analysis. That requires instruction, discussion, thinking and hard work. Lots of it. In some cases this…

Tom Louwerse, lecturer and researcher at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science, has been awarded a NWO Vidi grant. This will enable him to conduct research on how government and opposition parties cooperate in parliament and how this affects voters’ party choices and satisfaction with d…

Populist opposition parties are less likely to engage in policy-making behaviour (participating in or directly influencing legislative production) and somewhat more likely to engage in scrutiny behaviour (monitoring and criticising government actions).

On 24 and 25 September 2021, the 20th Austrian European Law Day took place at the University of Liechtenstein on the topic of

Towards the graduation ceremonies, you sense an increasing nervousness. Not only because all the tradition and glamour surrounding the event, also because that will be the day that the winner of the Political Science master’s thesis award will be announced. For 2022-2023, the jury is considering seven…

Robert Pee, William Michael Schmidli (Eds.) This book posits that democracy promotion played a key role in the Reagan administration’s Cold War foreign policy.

Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor of EU Law at the Europa Institute, has published his book, “The Civic Citizens of Europe: The Legal Potential for Immigrant Integration in the EU, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom”.

It's a no-brainer: of the candidates that you can vote for on 23 May, 14 studied at Leiden University. We asked four of them about their motivation and ambitions. In this article we interview Samira Rafaela, alumna of Public Administration, and Caspar Rutten, who is studying Law.

The long awaited fifth edition of book ‘The Law of the European Union’ (formerly Kapteyn & VerLoren van Themaat) was launched on Friday 11 January 2019 at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague.

From 1 June 2020, Jorrit Rijpma will be holding the chair in European Law, specialization Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

Leiden University’s Political Science and International Studies programmes have consolidated their firm academic reputation. In the 2017 QS World University Rankings, Leiden ranks 26th among the most valued institutes worldwide. Within the Netherlands, Leiden has retained the first position.