Teaching excellence is one of the core functions of the War, Peace and Justice (WPJ) research group. WPJ members engage in diverse forms of public engagement, but all share a commitment to education.

In 2025, GTGC co-organised with the City of The Hague and the Hague Humanity Hub a Just Peace Festival, a vibrant platform on the pressing global challenges of peace with justice. The festival involved a wide range of different activities, including dialogues, exhibitions, performances, film evenings,…

The Just Peace Dialogues were a set of meetings for public deliberation of key aspects of building peace in today’s world. The dialogues were held across seven days at the heart of the Just Peace Festival (16 - 22 June 2025).

From 1 August 2018, Alanna O'Malley was appointed as Chair of United Nations Studies in Peace and Justice, focusing on the ‘lesser-known actors’ of the UN: women, the youth, the agents of informal diplomatic networks within the UN and actors from the Global South. This Special Chair has been created…

This project maps the policy of ‘Paz Total’ (Total Peace) and ongoing peace negotiations between non-state armed groups and the government of Colombia under the presidency of Gustavo Petro (2022-2026).

The War and Peace Studies track offers you a comprehensive understanding of the historical, theoretical, and practical dimensions of war and peace, while addressing the complex challenges of conflict and peacebuilding in the contemporary world.

On the brink of war, what influences decision makers to attack another country? Using innovative theoretical angles, Femke E. Bakker explores whether the basic assumptions of democratic peace theory are indeed correct. She stresses the microfoundations of conflict, questioning the assumptions on…

Conceptualizing ceasefires as bargaining instruments challenges established ideas about the processes that lead up to conflict settlement, and about war re-emergence, with important implications for our understanding of war and peace.

The specialization Peace, Justice and Development at Leiden University examines the legislation that governs international relations in a global society.

The War, Peace, and Justice (WPJ) research group brings together leading social scientists, researchers, teachers, and both current and former leaders and practitioners to explore cutting-edge issues in war, conflict, peace, and justice.

Onderzoek van de onderzoeksgroep 'War, Peace and Justice'

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda arising from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 has reached a critical juncture in its short 20-year history. Despite comprising ten resolutions designed to bolster the agenda and expand its scope and normative power, serious challenges to the…

Tom Buitelaar assesses how 'agency' is addressed in peacekeeping studies and identifies gaps.

In this article, Jasmijn Boeken, explores in which ways the defining characteristics of the different zones can be found in the digital sphere.

Perception of material culture, design and digital knowledge applications

International Coalitions for Peace in the Era of Decolonization, 1918-1970

Are you thinking about studying Crisis and Security Management: War and Peace Studies? Learn more and watch the videos.

Law and peace in the work of Hans Kelsen. A re-evaluation of Kelsen’s legal philosophy: legal pacifism as tacit meaning of his Pure Theory of Law

How is it possible that people kill each other? And above all: how is it possible that people who are able to peacefully live with each other at one moment, can kill each other at another one?

We know that armed conflict breeds conflict. We also know the political, economic and demographic factors that inform this repetition of conflict. But we do not understand why accumulated conflict risk factors sometimes do and other times do not pay out in more violence. What if we go beyond macro structural…

We are a diverse collective with members from different faculties and organisations. Select a faculty or organisation in the left column to search and connect with members. Have questions or want to become a member? Get in touch with the steering committee.

The community is growing rapidly, select a faculty in the left panel to search and connect with members.

Buitelaar argues that IOs micro-level discourse adapts imperfectly to macro-level changes, balancing adaptation to pressures with commitment to values.

The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition is a network that stimulates interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and expertise on topics related to brain and cognition and focuses on science valorisation and outreach. Its research members come from a broad and diverse spectrum of specialized academic…

The Peace Run was held in The Hague on 14 September as part of the Just Peace festival. The event aimed to gather funds for UNICEF the Netherlands. A large team from Leiden University took part in the Run. Altogether a successful day!

Amidst today’s armed conflicts, authoritarian governments, cyber-attacks, organized crime, economic insecurity, and ecological destruction, it can be hard to imagine peace. What do we mean by ‘peace’, beyond the absence of war? What kind of peace are we seeking? What makes people and society at peace?…

Femke Bakker, political scientist at Leiden University, has been awarded a grant from the IPRAF (International Peace Research Organization Foundation) for her PhD research into the influence of political culture of different political regimes on individuals of these societies.

The Health Humanities Network brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines who explore questions related to health, illness, care, medicine, and wellbeing from a humanities perspective. This page provides an overview of the network's members and their areas of expertise.

These are the staff members of the Leiden - Latin America and the Caribbean Centre

Is there a causal mechanism underlying the decision to attack another country when on the brink of war? If so, does this mechanism differ between regime-types? Political scientist Femke Bakker (Leiden University) addresses this question from a political psychological and comparative perspective and…

Why do some parties fail to settle conflict, even after long periods of fighting? ISGA PhD candidate Valerie Sticher suggests that costly concessions often stand in the way of a negotiated agreement. Conflict party members not only care about their in-group's welfare, but also want to avoid rewarding…

Affiliated members

Who doesn’t want peace? Yet we don’t always appreciate how fragile it really is. This is why Leiden University was a co-organiser of the Just Peace Festival from 21 to 25 September 2016.

Since April 2023 the current war in Sudan has brought larger death, destruction, and displacement than any other ongoing armed conflict on earth. This dialogue brought together wise thinkers and excellent speakers from academia, civil society, policymakers, and youth to discuss how peace can be brought…

Eighty years after 1945, Europe again faces war in its own region. How to turn this tide and have sustainable peace in Europe? To discuss this question, this dialogue looked at the experience of war in Ukraine; Russia's role in Europe; lessons of Europe’s history for future peace; the values underpinning…

What is the relationship between democracy and peace? Do the two go hand in hand, so that less democracy means less peace? Or can democracy work against peace: for example, by producing protectionist and militarist governments? Or is there something more deeply wrong with democracy as we know it, such…

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…

LUCIS affiliated members are researchers outside Leiden University who are actively involved in the study of Islam and/or Muslim societies and who regularly participate in LUCIS activities. LUCIS affiliate membership offers possibilities to cooperate with LUCIS as well as network opportunities. Contact…

What are you going to do for peace and justice? What will your contribution be to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals? And who or what do you need to make sure your idea has impact? Come to Humanity House in The Hague on 21 September.

Today’s world faces large-scale climate change and other environmental disruptions. Meeting these challenges involves major adjustments to economy and society, with substantial potential for conflict and violence. This dialogue assembled leading authorities on the relationship between climate and peace,…

Read all about YAL membership and the members of the Young Academy Leiden.

The Just Peace Festival's first edition is live! The Opening Event marked the beginning of two weeks filled with activities to reflect on what peace and justice mean in today's world.

The Just Peace festival is coming up shortly. From 21 to 24 September we will be celebrating peace in The Hague with some inspiring HagueTalks, the Peace in the Park festival and the annual Peace Run.

On 17 March 2023, GTGC co-organized an event on Inclusive Peace in Ukraine together with Leiden University College, the Institute of Global Affairs at Leiden University, the UN University of Peace, and Peace Analytics. The event discussed the peace process in Ukraine and uncovered views from both theory…