Engagement between Asia and Europe is increasing. If these continents want to build a lasting relationship, they need to understand each other better in the economic, socio-cultural, historical and legal arena. Researchers from Leiden have already contributed to the body of knowledge on past and present…

To stay secure, the transatlantic community must take on emerging and disruptive technologies together.

Thijs Porck, expert in medieval English, has won the LUCAS Public Prize because he has made his research and education visible to a wider audience. Thijs has reached the national media, secondary schools and a lot of views with his blogs and videos. The prize consists of a certificate, trophy, 1000…

Leila Zerrougui (born in Algeria 1956) is a legal expert on human rights, justice, and rule of law. She is the current Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Before she was Special Representative…

After a year of war against Ukraine, professors André Gerrits, Antoaneta Dimitrova and Frans Osinga look back at Russian aggression and Western unity and ahead to the new offensive.

Jyothi Thrivikraman set up a Virtual International Collaboration project with a university in Myanmar.

‘Intelligence and security services need to adapt urgently to their constantly changing environment,’ says Professor by Special Appointment Bas Rietjens.

‘Seated behind her desk, she initiated and influenced embassies, conventions, ambassadorial meetings, sieges, and skirmishes that had kept a war-torn early modern Europe in its grip.’ This is how Nadine Akkerman, researcher as the Leiden Institute for Cultural Disciplines and author of The Correspondence…

The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world, Antony Lowenstein, Verso Books, 2023

A mega-dam around Europe is a possible solution as protection against rising sea levels. Whether that is really a good idea, was debated on by young professionals during the debate on the future of European coastal protection. 'A big dam may seem safe, but actually isn't,' argued debate winner Haye…

The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies hosted the second annual “International Humanitarian Law Clinic Exchange Conference”, from 8 to 14 December 2016, in The Hague. The idea to organize the conference stems from a collaboration…

Leiden University’s Institute for Security and Global Affairs and Dual PhD Centre jointly organize an online lecture on 23 April, 15.00 hrs by Cleveringa Professor General Roméo Dallaire on “How a better world is possible”: Cooperation between Science and Practice.

On 10 May 1940, the Netherlands was taken completely by surprise by the attack of the German army. Wasn’t it? In his dissertation, Wouter Linmans debunks the idea that the Second World War took the Netherlands by surprise. ‘From 1935 onwards, all major political parties wanted to invest in the military.’…

The chance that it will do so is about zero, but Russia is legally obliged to investigate violations of law during the war in Ukraine. States that enter into an armed conflict often deny liability, but under international humanitarian law and human rights they are obliged to investigate their military…

Jihadism and smugglers, gold fever and ethnic strive. It is a toxic mix that makes the Sahel a volatile region in which jihadi's thrive. In the Dutch daily De Volkskant, terrorism expert Liesbeth van de Heide sheds a light on the complex problems that the Sahel is facing. Van der Heide is a researcher…

The Grotius Centre Working Paper Series is an occasional series through which researchers in the Grotius Centre can publish the unedited versions of manuscripts that have been accepted for publication by journals and books.

On March 12, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) – a partner institute of the CTC - invited Associate Fellow Dr. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross to present his latest publication on Libya.

On 25 May, Professor Paul Abels retired as professor by special appointment. Abels has been working as Professor by special appointment Governance of Intelligence and Security Services at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs since 2017.

Every year, the Netherlands and Belgium Red Cross organize the Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition, which brings together students from both Dutch and Belgian universities.

Dennis Braekmans receives funding from the Byvanckfonds for the research

More and more countries have decided to introduce compulsory vaccination. According to various experts, compulsory vaccination, under certain conditions, could help the situation in the Netherlands.

Government leaders have been searching for words to condemn the actions of Belarus which intercepted a passenger aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, having a fighter plane divert it to Minsk.

Following the murder of two Dutch people - of which Iran is suspected - Trouw investigates how usual these practices are. Paul Abels, Professor of Intelligence Studies and Ben de Jong, Researcher, both working at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), will address the subject.

Commenting live on the Italian TV RaiNews 24, Marina Calculli (LIAS) suggested to view the recent escalation between the United States and Iran as the result of domestic and regional constraints on both countries.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis means that Leiden Law Exchange (LLX) events have now also moved online. On 26 January 2021 policy workers, academics and professionals met in an informal setting under the Chatham House Rule to discuss the recent accusations aimed at the European Border and Coast Guard…

President Zelensky of Ukraine has asked the UN International Court of Justice to issue an urgent order to stop Russian military activity in his country. According to Zelensky, Russia has twisted the concept of genocide to justify aggression.

The Russian military assault on Ukraine has profoundly shocked knowledge institutions in the Netherlands, as represented by Universities of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Dutch Research Council,…

Every year, the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders organise the Frits Kalshoven IHL Competition. This competition aims to provide students with an opportunity to practically engage with IHL, the rules that govern the conduct of war, by attending expert lectures and workshops, engaging…

Legal action relating to the situation in Gaza is now being taken in various countries and courts around the world. In a podcast for ‘NPO-Radio1’, Larissa van Herik, Professor of Public International Law, outlines what is gained from these cases and the relationship between law, activism and politic…

Willemijn Aerdts, lecturer at ISGA discusses the warning issued by the MIVD (Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service) to put away your phone when discussing sensitive or private matters.

December 5th, Antoaneta Dimitrova associated with the Institute of Public Administration, was one of the main guests at the conference

On 8 March 2021, International Women’s Day, Vanessa Newby was a panelist at the online discussion ‘Breaking Barriers – Women in Peacekeeping’, organized by A4P WPS Champions Ireland, Germany, South Africa and Bangladesh together with UNSCR 1325 architect, Namibia.

Who should try the fallen Sudanese president Bashir? The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague wants to put the former dictator on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, but the Sudanese military is refusing to hand him over and wants to try him in their own…

Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions, recently wrote an op-ed in Dutch daily newspaper NRC.

The Institute for History announces vacancies for three PhD positions on Rethinking Disability: the Global Impact of the International Year of Disabled Persons (1981) in Historical Perspective and one PhD position to conduct research on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

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.

Conference, Workshop and book presentation

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.

Athens is universally known as a symbol of democracy, philosophy, and ancient Greek aesthetics. Some of the most famous classical monuments, including the Parthenon and the temple of Hephaestus, can be found here.

Leiden Asia Departments

Episode 1: The Golden Horde in a Global Perspective: Imperial Strategies. This project intends to challenge the conventional way of considering the nomadic state organizations and the role of Nomads in world history.

How did changes in the composition and exploitation of princely domains in various principalities of the Low Countries influence the development of ‘modern’ public finance systems, including the notion of public debt?

Postcolonial Displacements explores the multiple ways in which migration in South Asia contributes to the imagining, questioning, subverting and reframing of territories, nations and communities. The project focuses on the contested fringes of the politically divided South Asian subcontinent, across…

This one-year, English-taught Master's programme offers insights on general developments as well as the specific challenges in the field of the governance of crisis and security, with in-depth knowledge of sub-fields of crisis and security management.