What rules should regulate AI, who should make them, and how will they be enforced in the digital arena?

Scientists of the faculty of Governance and Global Affairs research completely different subject, among which terrorism, cybercrime and migration. We give the floor to several of our very best researchers. In this episode: Caroline Archambault researches the Masai in Kenia.

Heike Vethaak and Egbert Jongen from the Department of Economics of Leiden Law School have been commissioned by the Dutch Trade Union Confederation (FNV) to conduct research on the development and distribution of wealth in the Netherlands. The research will start in July and the outcome is expected…

From 3-6 December 2019 the conference “The Ties that Bind”: Mechanisms and Structures of Social Dependency in the Early Islamic Empire will take place. Deadline for sending in your abstract: 31 January 2019.

Rong Yuang, PhD candidate from the Institute of Environmental Sciences investigated the impact of the renewable energy expansion on China’s carbon emission. On 17 May, she will defend her thesis. China is investing heavily in the development of low-carbon electricity sources, like nuclear, hydro-,…

Pieter Omtzigt, a strong contender in the polls for the Dutch general elections with his New Social Contract party (NSC), has said he would prefer to remain in parliament as party leader. He is not saying who the NSC candidate for prime minister might be and will only reveal this after the elections.…

Hungary belongs to the EU, but democracy is being seriously and systematically threatened there. Does the rest of the EU have the means and the political will to deal with member states that are out of step? Antoaneta Dimitrova, professor of 'Comparative Governance' at the Institute of Security and…

What is life like as an academic? Twelve PhD candidates will report on their daily work in videos and blogs on the Faces of Science website (in Dutch). They include three researchers from Leiden who are researching topics such as North Korean support for African liberation movements, how differently…

The South African poet and author Antjie Krog gave the 37th Albert Verwey Lecture in the Great Auditorium in the Academy Building on 18 November. Inspired by Verwey’s poem ‘De zegger van verzen’, Krog’s lecture was a polyphonic and multilingual love letter to poetry.

Fundamental rights protect citizens from the government, but they are not absolute. A crisis situation not only gives the government the opportunity to restrict freedoms, it also shows citizens how far it is willing to go in doing so. ‘In the [Dutch] cabinets led by Rutte, there seems to be less and…

A more powerful and prosperous China is exerting unprecedented influence on global affairs and the Chinese government is openly pursuing a proactive diplomacy. Reflecting the importance of these developments, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy is now calling for paper proposals for a special issue.

Political philosopher Nicholas Vrousalis (Leiden University) has been awarded a Vidi grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Vrousalis will develop a normative toolkit for the critique of economic inequality.

Wetlands provide many ecosystem goods and services which include fish production. The sustainability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) has received considerable attention in recent years because fish is one of the major sources of animal protein to a considerable fraction of the global population which…

Here you can find an overview of the Erasmus+ projects undertaken by Leiden University since 2015.

The aim of this project is to study the influence of Longinus’s treatise ‘On the sublime’ on practice and theory of architecture and theatre in seventeenth-century Paris and Amsterdam.

African oral literatures, new media and technologies: challenges for research and documentation

We would all like to live in a world in which individuals feel safe, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the interests of future generations are taken into consideration. At Leiden University legal scholars investigate to what extent public international law meets the needs of a globalised society.…

The surface and the edges of graphene are expected to provide higher sensitivity and specificity in detecting and characterizing single molecules. However fundamental physical limits exist in reaching an ultimate precision in detecting the dynamics of chemical and biological systems. The research in…

What is Leiden University doing to reduce energy consumption and move away from fossil energy? Where can you find information about energy? And what changes can you make yourself?

Beneath the glittering surface image of K-pop idols lies the Dorian Grey-like heart of an industry that abuses and discards its trainees and stars. It is a system of absolute power, that will be unable to uphold its image of a positive global influence. According to Aleydis Nissen, researcher at Leiden…

Salvador Santino Regilme's paper “One Great Nation Under Trump? Global Human Rights in Distress Amidst American Decline” has received the

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 Thursday 26 October, the Europa Institute held its fourth ‘Meet the Author’ event.

On Monday 9 October 2023, Jelena Belic, Matthew Canfield, Rachel Griffin, Henning Lahmann, and Barrie Sander presented their research on 'The Promise and Perils of Human Rights for Governing Digital Platforms' during a GTGC lunch seminar.

To enjoy the Winter holidays, the Leiden Leadership Centre has selected several interesting illustrations of leadership.

On 30 January, GTGC hosted a special event together with the Embassy of Ireland. As part of his visit to the Netherlands, John Concannon, Director General of the Global Ireland Unit of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, came to the university to engage in a discussion about Ireland's role in international…

We take it for granted that water comes out of the tap and electricity out of the socket. But that isn’t always the case. Last Tuesday began like any other day, with our board meeting in the morning. But things were soon to change.

Tom Long (2022). A Small State’s Guide to Influence in World Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780190926212, 240 pp. (hardback), £19.99.

Heritage protection is increasingly understood by nations and other actors as playing a critical intersectoral role in supporting wider development and diplomacy outcomes through soft power and cultural relations.

The final conference of the Eurasian Empires programme took place from 15 to 17 June 2016 in Leiden. The conference concluded a five-year research programme in which nine researchers worked on their own specific projects within the programme’s Eurasian scope, transcending borders by bringing together…

In the 1960s at MIT, cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky told a couple of graduate students to program a computer to perform the simple task of recognising objects in pictures, thinking it would be a nice summer project. Scientists from Leiden and the rest of the world are still working on it today.

The former Volvo director travelled from Sweden to Leiden to give a lecture to the master’s students of the Leiden Leadership Programme. Among other things, Peter Hertinge speaks about the ‘why’ of leadership: ‘You have an important position that affects other people’s lives.’

“To change the world, you do not need everybody. You only need one. So, will you be the one? That’s the question.” Saturday December 3rd, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus gave a special lecture at the Anna van Buerenplein campus of LUC The Hague. (Text: Jakob Semb Aasmundsen; Photography: Paul…

North Korea may seem like an isolated country but it has strong ties with African regimes. This alliance, which trades in arms despite international sanctions, is increasingly operating out of the liberal world order’s sight, PhD candidate Tycho van der Hoog warns.

Russia is a world power and an upcoming economy in which the Netherlands is a serious investor. Leiden University has been studying the Slavic world for 100 years. Professor Jos Schaeken: ‘If a decision has to be made at international level, Russia is always involved.’

From simulations of galaxies to analyses of MRI scans: scientific research needs more and more computing power. Leiden University is planning to set up a completely new facility for high-performance computing. The green light was given officially on 20 June.

The euro crisis of 2010 has shown that the Eurozone lacks economic cohesion and that EU fiscal integration is needed for a stable euro. But can this integration exist without clashing with the national constitutional interests of the Member States? Frederik Behre looked into this matter in his PhD-thesis…

Is the child benefits scandal an omen for the future and will people’s lives soon be fully dominated by algorithms? Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Reijer Passchier warns that the encroaching digitalisation is giving the executive branch even more power, leaving parliament…

Each month we will be spotlighting material we have been reading, or that have been recommended to us that relate to AI and a particular theme.

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy regularly publishes book reviews of approx. 800-1000 words, upon invitation by our Book Reviews Editor. We are currently accepting reviews of the selected books below, as well as any other contribution within the field of diplomacy and global affairs.

Here’s a selection of key publications by members of the CPP:

In the past half a century, China has transformed from an underdeveloped and inward-looking country to a major player in world politics. The country asserts itself more boldly on the world stage; not only in relation to nearby countries and places such as Taiwan, Japan, and other countries that share…

On Monday 20 November, a combined ILS/LRL (Leiden Research Lunch) took place.

American anthropologist Rosemary Joyce will be awarded an honorary doctorate from Leiden University on its Dies Natalis on 8 February. Joyce has delivered important new insights into the ancient Mayan cultures of Central America.

Dr. Jennifer Day from the University of Melbourne, Dr. Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh and Ms. Olivia Johnson have obtained a $30,000 (EUR 26.741) research grant from the National Geographic Society for a two-year interdisciplinary research project on 'Gendered Migration: Women, Evictions, and Power in Port…

The decision by the court in preliminary relief proceedings to immediately lift the curfew in the Netherlands – following a case brought by pressure group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) – has been overturned until the appeal on the case is heard this Friday. The government is doing everything in its power…