On 5 September 2017, Alessandro Tonutti defended his PhD dissertation

Leaders of the ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

‘Islam and Muslims are not something that happened to Europe; they are part of Europe. In fact, Islam is one the biggest constants in European history,’ argues Professor Maurits Berger in the new eight-part History of Islam in Europe podcast series of the Leiden University Faculty of Humanities.

The Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) is pleased to introduce a new research seminar series. The FGGA Research Seminar will be a forum for the presentation and discussion of current, high-quality research on topics covered by the faculty.

The Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) has issued an opinion on possibilities for reform within the European Union (EU) in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the EU budget, and protecting the rule of law.

The NWO has awarded four Leiden researchers with an Internationalisation in the Humanities grant.

During the official opening of the 2018-2019 Academic Year on Monday 3 September, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will talk about Europe and the future of our continent in a turbulent and unpredictable world. He will do this in the form of a lecture and a discussion with Imane Maghrani, an alumna of World Politics…

January is the final month of our temporary exhibition 'Above and Beyond: Making Sense of the Universe for 100 Years'. You can visit every weekend until Jauary 26th.

The NVAO panel, which consisted of two Dutch and three international eminent professors, expressed their great satisfaction with the quality of both the teaching and support offered to students on all programmes.

Paul van Trigt (LUIH) in collaboration with Paul Bijl (KITLV) and Manon Parry (UvA) received a NWO Creative Industry – KIEM Grant for the research project ‘Digital Disability Archive’ (1 September 2017 – 31 August 2018).

Countries in the Global South, including India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Nigeria, are gaining increasing influence in the world economy and in international decision-making. The Netherlands and Europe should strengthen ties with these countries to avoid being sidelined, according to the urgent advice…

On Thursday 2 May, the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) of Leiden University hosted a guest lecture given by former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru.

Russia is planning to protect its own internet against attacks from the Western enemy. President Putin recently signed a law for autonomous internet as a kick off. Critics are worried that the law will mainly be used to oppress the opposition within Russia itself. Dennis Broeders, Associate Professor…

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…

Global affairs, governance, security, sustainability, public administration, and urban development are topics broadly covered in FGGA's research activities. Regularly, FGGA researchers contribute to The Conversation, an independent platform for academic insights and analysis on current affairs. This…

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.

Hungary belongs to the EU, but democracy is being seriously and systematically threatened there. Does the rest of the EU have the means and the political will to deal with member states that are out of step? Antoaneta Dimitrova, professor of 'Comparative Governance' at the Institute of Security and…

Starting April 13 a brand new exhibition is open for visit, titled 'Above and Beyond: Making Sense of the Universe for 100 Years

From 6-9 July, a group of young students from Edith Stein College, Rijswijk Lyceum and the Johan de Witt School travelled to New York City as part of the Van Aartsen Honours Program to present their visions of the UN to the Permanent Mission of The Netherlands. Read Alanna O'Malley's report of the t…

Food security is increasingly under pressure due to rising inequality, climate change, and armed conflict. From 28 October, Leiden University College (LUC) in The Hague offers a seven-week course

Like every year, the NVIC with the support of the Netherlands Embassy in Cairo, organised a Cleveringa lecture to commemorate the courageous speech by Professor Rudolph Cleveringa on the 26th of November in 1940, in which he protested the 'Berufsverbot' imposed on his Jewish colleagues by the Nazi…

The US attack and the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro have raised questions worldwide. Two Leiden experts in international law, Anna Marhold and Jens Iverson of the Grotius Centre, told media outlets that this constitutes a violation of international law.

2025 was a year full of impact and milestones for FGGA: From a record number of graduates and new programmes to international collaborations, prestigious awards and research that pushes boundaries and provides insight into current challenges.

The main aim of this project is to reveal and unravel the invisible histories of the UN, transcending the dominant Western perspective to recover the historical agency of Global South actors. The research will investigate how the UN has both facilitated and limited their role in shaping global order…

Leiden University has a long tradition of Asian language education. Chinese, Japanese and Korean partners are essential in providing a practical side of learning education.

By working together with external social partners, the knowledge of our scientists finds its way into society.

Knowledge that benefits society is the domain of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA). FGGA provides high-quality interdisciplinary education on and research into social and governance issues such as terrorism, organisation of public administration, climate change and economic crises.

The recent reciprocal expulsions of ambassadors between Spain and Nicaragua are not merely political gestures but legally structured acts grounded in the framework of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) (VCDR). The episode illustrates how the persona non grata mechanism - a classical…

Studying one another’s languages and cultures fosters understanding between groups of people, which leads to more equality, along with increased economic, administrative, and cultural cooperation.

Computer says no: end of story. Twenty years ago, a hilarious line in the British TV series Little Britain, now a reality. We all blindly follow technology at times, with varying consequences. For ISGA lecturer and researcher Daan Weggemans, it's a subject worthy of a PhD.

The 2014 Village Law will likely cause a considerable change in the character of village governance and leadership in the coming years.

Lecture

China makes no secret of its ambitions to become the world’s leading nation. What can we expect now that the EU and the rest of the world are in recession? And why did President Donald Trump suspend US funding to the World Health Organization? Rob de Wijk, Professor of International Relations and Security…

During her work for the European Union, Sophie Vériter witnessed how young people in countries like Ukraine and Moldova were exposed to Russian propaganda. After mapping out the EU’s disinformation policy, the PhD candidate now advocates for a revised approach.

It poured down when Alexander Gallo received his diploma from West Point Military Academy. A bad sign, people said back then. It was June 2001, three months before 9/11. The now 46-year-old American fought in Iraq, did research in Afghanistan and stands in Leiden today, defending his dissertation on…

Nu in heel Europa rechtse partijen hoog scoren in de peilingen is de verwachting dat de discussie omtrent migratie flink opgeschud gaat worden. Desondanks maant hoogleraar Sarah Wolff tot kalmte.

On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, students, instructors, staff and other guests gathered at the Faculty Club for an exciting event: a discussion entitled “The First 20 Years: Reconsidering European Union Enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe.” His Excellency Mr. René Miko, Ambassador of the Czech Republic…

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.

Lecture

Lecture

What is the state of democracy in developing and transition countries in 2024? Terrible, according to the BTI Transformation Index.

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?…

Nadine Akkerman, associate professor of early modern English literature is receiving the Dr Hendrik Muller Prize 2021 for her work.

Yusen Yu wins the prestigious Graduate Student Prize of the Middle East Medievalists (MEM) with his article

You speak Japanese, know everything about medieval art or understand exactly what Hegel meant. And then you graduate. Many Humanities students find it hard to enter the labour market. A relevant part-time job can help. Therefore, the faculty has been working together with the employment agency Randstad…

These are trying times for Ukraine. The armed conflicts with Russia in Donbass and Crimea have still not come to an end after starting in 2014. Ukranian minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klymkin came to The Hague on February 2nd to discuss these current issues with Leiden students. ‘Ukranians will always…

Leiden University is happy to announce that it has won a prestigious Jean Monnet grant for a Centre of Excellence. The Centre, called CompaRe, focusses on comparative regional integration.

The new blog Afro-Asian Visions showcases new and ongoing research on Afro-Asian interactions through networks of artists, intellectuals, technical experts, and activists. It is designed as an online magazine.

Leiden University has recently received various petitions from students and staff concerning our ties with Israeli universities. We have also held extensive discussions with the University Council in response to questions raised on the subject. We think it important that our partners and research projects…

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, gave a guest lecture at Leiden University on 19 April. His message was clear: increased international tensions call for greater investments in defence. According to Stoltenberg, the Netherlands is not one of the big spenders in this area.