Does hegemony—legitimated rule by dominant power—have a role in ordering world politics of the twenty-first century? If so, what form does that hegemony take: does it lie with a leading state or with some other force? How does contemporary world hegemony operate: what tools does it use and what outcomes…

During the Conference of the European International Studies Association (EISA) that takes place at 5-9 September 2023 in Potsdam, Germany, both Jan Aart Scholte and Valentina Carraro presented their research. Jan Aart presented his work on ‘Governing the Internet through South-Based Regional Private…

Professor Jan Aart Scholte delivered an inaugural lecture, entitled “Governing a (Better) Global World” on Friday 4 February 2022 in the Groot Auditorium of the Academy Building, Rapenburg 73 in Leiden.

This article investigates the sources of legitimacy in multistakeholderism as a major alternative approach to intergovernmental global governance.

Meet the core staff behind Global Transformations and Governance Challenges.

The idea of global governance and trust in international institutions are apparently getting into deep water. But is there a legitimacy crisis? Not according to international élites, as Jan Aart Scholte (Leiden University), Soetkin Verhaegen (Maastricht University) and Jonas Tallberg (Stockholm University)…

To understand how multistakeholder global governance institutions operate well, the Multistakeholder Global Governance (MGG) Project is currently developing three case studies to compare differences and similarities between capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy. The case studies explore these themes…

Contact information for the Leiden University Centre for International Relations.

Hegemony and World Order explores a key question for our tumultuous times of multiple global crises.

Meet the core staff behind Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, which consists of a Professor, a postdoctoral researcher, three PhD candidates, and a Programme Officer.

Strategic direction of the GTGC initiative lies with a Steering Group, composed of seven members from four Leiden University faculties. Chaired by Leiden's Professor of Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, the Steering Group addresses questions such as overall vision, staffing, communications,…

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Changing the world (a little bit)

How does governing work today, and how does society handle pressing challenges in ways that are democratic, effective, fair, peaceful, and sustainable?

The Multistakeholder Global Governance (MGG) Project is a four-year project which explores how far, and under what circumstances, multistakeholder constructions of global governance operate well, in terms of having capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy.

The fifth edition of the Owada Chair Symposium, that was held in Leiden on 14 and 15 October 2025, highlighted the law and politics of international criminal justice.

On 16 January 2024, Professor Obiora Okafor from Johns Hopkins University opened the third cycle of the Owada Chair with the lecture Global Diversity and the Living International Human Rights Law.

This article explores levels and patterns of legitimacy beliefs with respect to multistakeholder global governance at ICANN. From a large and systematic evidence base, Jongen & Scholte have found that ICANN has strong legitimacy underpinnings among its staff and board, as well as quite uniformly moderate-to-high…

Which educational and child welfare interventions offer optimal opportunities for positive development to children with severe behavioral and emotional disorders.

Jan Aart Scholte, Professor Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, is a co-author of this book that offers the first full comparative study of citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs toward global governance.

International Relations and European Politics is one of the three organisational clusters of the Institute of Political Science.

Jan Aart Scholte is the first professor on the new Leiden interdisciplinary programme, Global Transformations and Governance Challenges. He researches how to tackle global challenges such as climate change and inequality. Inaugural lecture on 4 February.

Amidst concerns over what the re-election of Donald Trump will mean for the international system, Prof. Dr. Jan Aart Scholte gave a Cleveringa Lecture titled ‘Trump, geopolitics and the future of globalization’ on 28 November 2024.

Governance of the internet is chaotic, says Professor Jan Aart Scholte. Can we learn from this relatively new form of governance?

On 19 March 2021, Professor Jan Aart Scholte addressed a meeting of the OECD Public Governance Committee on the subject of 'Reinforcing Democracy: 21st Century Governance Challenges'.

On 23-24 June 2022, Jan Aart Scholte and Valentina Carraro were invited to the Annual Meeting of the Academic Council on the United Nations System. Jan Aart Scholte gave a paper on the ‘Institutional Sources of Legitimacy at ICANN’. Valentina Carraro was a roundtable speaker during the collective entry…

The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) is underway, and it is a key instance for world leaders to adress global and regional challenges. The organisation expects to convene over 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries. However, there is rising concern about the number of key leaders that will not…

The book: Hegemony and World Order: Reimagining Power in Global Politics will be published this week. Jan Aart Scholte: 'We hope that students, lecturers and policy makers will start to think differently because of this book'

Thirty years ago, pioneers of the internet expected that this new technology would be a force for freedom, democracy, justice and peace. Yet today digital communications often involve human rights abuses, criminal activity, disinformation, gender-based violence, and cyber warfare. How can we turn these…

The annual conference of the Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) interdisciplinary research programme will take place in The Hague on 7-9 June. Why should you be there? ‘The problems in the world affect us all. This conference will be looking at planetary governance’, says programme…

To what extent can global issues be solved by multistakeholder collaboration, a relatively new type of organisation? Jan Aart Scholte, the coordinator of the Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) interdisciplinary research programme, has received a Dutch Research Council (NWO) grant…

Amidst concerns over what the re-election of Donald Trump will mean for the international system, Prof. Dr. Jan Aart Scholte will give a Cleveringa Lecture titled ‘Trump, geopolitics and the future of globalization’ on 28 November 2024.

The greatest challenges facing humanity today have significant global dimensions that require substantial policy responses at a planetary scale. In this context, the Multistakeholder Global Governance (MGG) project aims to understand to what extent and under what circumstances multistakeholder global…

In March 2021, Prof. dr. Jan Aart Scholte, Professor Global Transformations and Governance Challenges at Leiden University, co-edited with Dr. Blayne Haggart and Dr. Natasha Tusikov the volume Power and Authority in Internet Governance.

Past event: On 21 April 2023 Jan Aart Scholte and colleagues presented their report Global Governance: Fit for Purpose? to 80 policy practitioners in Stockholm at the headquarters of SNS, Center for Business and Policy Studies.

On 31 May, GTGC Chair Prof. Jan Aart Scholte, together with Carolina Aguerre and Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn, launched their book 'Global Digital Data Governance: Polycentric Perspectives' at the University of Groningen.

On 23 November 2022, Jan Aart Scholte contributed to a roundtable of the Networking Channel on 'The Transforming Challenges of Internet Governance'. Click here to find out more about the event.

On 17 October 2022, Jan Aart Scholte contributed to a conference plenary roundtable on 'From Internet Governance to Digital Political Economy'. Click here to find out more about the event.