On March 16 students and alumni of the Advanced LLM in European and International Human Rights Law were brought together in an online Zoom event organized by our programme coordinator, Mahshid Alizadeh, and head of the LLM, Rick Lawson.

From cities that sometimes deviate from national foreign policy to the direct influence of geopolitics on local developments, PhD candidate Pieter Jeroense, director of VNG International, examined seventy years of the internationalisation of Dutch municipalities and observed notable trends.

Who holds rights to Greenland’s surrounding waters and natural resources? Which interests are at stake and for whose benefit? We put these questions to Hilde Woker, who specialises in the law of the sea in the Arctic.

Assistant professor Vincent Chang spoke in various media outlets about the Chinese commemoration of World War II.

Leiden University College and the Erasmus Center of Law and Digitalization, with the support of the Sectorplan SSH-Breed on Digitalization and the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, are announcing a Call for Abstracts for a two-day workshop, Digital and AI Governance at a Time of Geopolitical…

University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe provided commentary in several media outlets on the situation in Venezuela.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe comments on France24 on controversial USA ambassadors in Europe, all appointed by Trump.

Associate professor Salvador Santino Regilme was interviewed by NPR about Trump’s soft power.

Postdoc Intigam Mamedov comments in The Conversation on the recent peace talks between Russia and the USA regarding the war in Ukraine.

In an article for The Conversation, University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe comments on the recent elections in the United States and what they mean for President Donald Trump’s position.

The White House has recently released its national security strategy. University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe explains in The Conversation what we can learn from the document.

In an article for East Asia Forum, University Lecturer Vincent Chang sheds light on China’s ambition to globalise its pantheon of national heroes.

University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe explains on France 24 how alleged fraud in Minnesota is being used by Trump as an argument to target Somalis.

University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe commented on the BBC regarding Donald Trump’s plans to exclude South Africa from the G20.

Associate professor Salvador Santino Regilme commented in several international media on the situation in Venezuela.

French newspaper Libération has interviewed university lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe about the war in Iran.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe comments in an article on the Conversation on Trump’s attack on Iran.

Professor Wolff discusses the EU migration policy on Global Europe.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe comments in the Sydney Morning Herald on the possibility the USA have fewer munitions available for other conflict zones, such as Ukraine.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe comments on The Conversation on Trump’s statement that the war in Iran will end ‘very soon’.

Associate Professor Salvador Santino Regilme discusses the recent launch of the Board for Peace by President Donald Trump in the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.

Associate professor Salvador Santino Regilme spoke in various media outlets about the tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

Associate professor Eric Storm’s book on nationalism has been reviewed in two Spanish newspapers. Three newspaper published interviews with Storm.

In an article for The Conversation, university lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe explains how the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti has affected the pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Lecture, Book Talk

In an essay published in three prominent European newspapers, Professor Luuk van Middelaar takes a close look at Europe’s role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ‘Europe shows plenty of political energy, but what is still lacking is strategic cool-headedness, in facing a nuclear power.’

As a strategy and international security specialist, Julien Bastrup-Birk (41) has advised both NATO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and worked at the UK Foreign and Defence ministries. Next week, he will defend his PhD on clandestine non-state power in the international system.

How can groundbreaking research help Europe tackle the huge challenges it faces? At the launch of the Leiden Europe Hub, academics and policymakers discussed this in the heart of European democracy: the European Parliament.

The presence and participation of interest groups in policymaking processes has become a crucial component of Western democracies. These groups link society and policymakers and influence public policy choices. Their function however, is often taken for granted and not very well researched. Adrià Albareda…

Nikki Ikani, Assistant Professor Intelligence and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), has recently published her latest monograph 'Crisis and change in European Union foreign policy' with Manchester University Press.

The Iran war has pushed up fuel prices and raised concerns about a global energy shortage. How well prepared is the Netherlands? We asked two experts.

Pita Limjaroenrat (45) was set to become Thailand’s next prime minister, but in 2024 the Thai Constitutional Court dissolved his progressive Move Forward Party and banned him from politics. He now reflects publicly on the policy values that brought the party to prominence.

His Surinamese neighbours in Amsterdam gave Russia expert and economic historian Isaac Scarborough an idea: a re-evaluation of the Surinamese economy in the twentieth century. An NWO XS grant will enable him to make a start on this.

Alumni who live and work in Brussels met on 18 February at the annual Leiden Alumni in Brussels Event. As well as celebrating Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, they also looked at the challenges Europe faces.

On 23 February 2023, Leiden University organised an alumni event in Brussels, which was attended by around a hundred people. Joris Larik, representing Leiden University College (LUC) The Hague and the Europa Institute, spoke on the expert panel on interdisciplinary perspectives on ‘Europe and the new…