On 27 May 2025, the Executive Board decided to establish a Committee on Human Rights / Conflict Zones.

Valerie de Koeijer is Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and International Organisation at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs of Leiden University. Her research is on responses to disaster and climate change, with a focus on conflict and cooperation in the relationships between various…

David Ehrhardt studies governance and institutional change in Africa, with a focus on the role of non-state leaders (such as traditional and religious leaders) in promoting changes that enhance development. He is also co-lead of the Learning Mindset innovation project, which develops and researches…

Anar Ahmadov (PhD, London School of Economics) is broadly trained in political economy, sociology, development studies, and public policy. Prior to joining Leiden, he has held research and teaching positions at Princeton University, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics (LSE). For over…

Since January 2018, Aukje Nauta is affiliated as a parttime professor with a special assignment, 'Enhancing individuals in a dynamic work context' at Leiden University, on behalf of Sioo.

I specialize in the field of modern Middle East studies, concentrating on the region's politics and international relations (history and theory), foreign policy analysis, and diplomatic history. As a historian of international relations I have developed special research interests in the Arab-Israeli…

Maja Vodopivec teaches several courses in Peace and Conflict Studies track of the World Politics major, and a course in Global History track of the Human Diversity major. Her research interest lies in postwar Japanese intellectual history and peace and conflict studies. Extension number: 8372

Herman Siemens is a Senior University Lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy.

Adam Lichtenheld is an Assistant Professor of Peace Studies, Conflict Resolution, and International Relations at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs. He is an expert on forced displacement, armed conflict, political violence, peacebuilding, and post-conflict development, with a focus on Africa…

Yung Lin received her PhD in Security and Global Affairs from Leiden University in December 2025. Her research examines identity-based conflict, public diplomacy, and non-traditional security in the Indo-Pacific.

Rob de Wijk is Professor of International Relations at Leiden University. Besides that, he is also chairman of the National Security Think Tank (Denktank Nationale Veiligheid) and columnist for the national daily newpaper Trouw and monthly for Energiepodium.nl.

Angelo Romano is an Assistant Professor at the unit Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology at the Institute of Psychology. He is interested in understanding the psychology of conflict and cooperation among people, groups, and nations.

Prof. dr. ir. Bas Rietjens of the Dutch Defense Academy (NLDA) has been appointed Professor by special appointment Intelligence in War and Conflict at Leiden University’s Institute for Security and Global Affairs (ISGA). The appointment of Rietjens is the result of a more intensive collaboration between…

How to reduce aggression when two parties are at odds? PhD research by psychologist Lennart Reddmann's shows that it can help to offer them a peaceful alternative. However, the attacking party benefits the most from such a solution.

Mirjam de Bruijn has received a funding from the Research Council of Norway for the research project called 'Decoding Digital Media in African Regions of Conflict (DDMAC)'. The project is a collaboration with colleagues from Oslomet and Simula, Norway, Utrecht University, University of Addis Abeba,…

Violent conflicts and civil wars in Chad impede most rural households' access to food security, agricultural activities and access to essential services such as health care. In her dissertation, Nakar Djindil Syntyche denounces this issue. She obtained her PhD on 24 November.

‘Don’t forget us. Don’t stop talking about Iran.’ In a packed lecture hall at the new Spui Campus in The Hague, a panel discussion was held this Tuesday on recent developments, tensions and the wave of state violence in Iran.

In a new essay for Ethics & International Affairs, Dr Henning Lahmann, Assistant Professor of International Law & Technology at eLaw, addresses the question whether states should resort to social media to warn a civilian population ahead of military operations.

From 1967 to 1982, the United Nations undertook several peacekeeping operations in the Middle East. In his thesis from the Institute for History, Diego Salama examines how these operations were connected and their impact on the region.

Eric van Dijk graduated in economics and in psychology at Groningen University, and then moved to Leiden to work on his dissertation on social dilemmas. In 1993 he defended his dissertation (cum laude). His research concentrates on the understanding of economic and social decision making. In 2002 he…

Yousef Sweid was called a ‘stinking Arab’ in the sandpit at his Jewish kindergarten in Haifa. In a packed lecture hall, the Palestinian-Israeli actor performed a powerful excerpt from his show ‘Between the River and the Sea’.

The Research Network of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRANET) commissioned Aleydis Nissen and Rik Raedschelders to write the 2022 report on Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Belgium.

Anneleen van der Meer discusses Russia's alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine in an article for The Conversation.

Ahmet Serdar Günaydin is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. His research focuses on the United Nations special political missions and their approaches towards fostering national dialogues and policy reforms. He explores the multilateral diplomatic efforts…

Conference, 2-day Workshop

That the tax authorities are allowed to impose taxes is widely known. What is less well known is when the tax authorities must impose taxes. And what to do when one set of regulations requires the tax authorities to impose taxes while other regulations prevent them from doing exactly that? Vergouwen’s…

Different groups can have different memories of the same historical event. This can lead to conflict but does not have to. How is this, and how can countries and people reconcile with the past?

The war between Ukraine and Russia is playing out not just on the battlefield but also on the geopolitical playing field of gas. Conflicts at the start of this century about this energy source were, says PhD candidate Ilia Barboutev, a precursor to today’s war.

When Professor of Tax Law Jan Vleggeert delivered his inaugural lecture in Leiden University’s Academy Building on 30 October 2020, only 30 people were allowed to attend due to coronavirus measures. On 10 June 2022, Vleggeert was therefore given the opportunity to deliver a lecture to a much larger…

On Wednesday 7 June, the EPFR research program had its annual research day (toogdag). The venue we had for this year was the Gravensteen, a beautiful historic building right by Pieterskerk.

Valerie Sticher has been awarded the Cedric Smith Prize 2021 of the Conflict Research Society (CRS) for an article she wrote as a part of her dissertation at ISGA last May. The Cedric Smith Prize is awarded annually to the best article or thesis chapter in peace and conflict research by a PhD student.…