On Wednesday 25 June 2025 Dechun Zhang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the continuing armed conflict. Many forms of critical infrastructure have been destroyed. Much of this devastation has been caused by weapons that utilise forms of artificial intelligence…

The Europa Instituut is pleased to announce that this week a new handbook “EU State Aids” (31 Chapters, 1500 pages) was published.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) has published the 2017 issue in their Civil Society and Disarmament series, titled Voluntary, Non-Binding Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in the Use of Information and Communications Technology: A Commentary. The series aims to provide…

In a modernist interpretation of migration controls, nation states play a major role. This book challenges this interpretation by showing that comprehensive migration checks and permanent border controls appeared much earlier, in early modern dynastic states and empires, and predated nation states by…

Andrei Poama, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, published a piece in the journal of Political Philosophy about social injustice, disadvantaged offenders and the state's authority to punish.

Spirited narratives of purpose and progress: church-society engagement alongside the (Company-) state

This book closely analyses the rise and fall of Louis XIV's marine insurance institutions in Paris, which were central to the French monarchy's efforts to stimulate commerce, colonial enterprise and economic growth.

How do governments distribute resources across economic sectors during a crisis? And why do some sectors receive more than others? The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of these questions. In this paper, we explore the extent to which a political economy…

On 23 October 2019, Yoram Stein defended his thesis 'Spinoza's Theory of Religion: The Importance of Religion in Spinoza's Thought and Its Implications for State and Society'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur and Prof. A.A.M. Kinneging.

The policies relating to language pursued by European monarchies and states have been widely studied, but far less attention has been given to their linguistic and cultural policies in territories outside their own borders.

Mateo Cohen (research assistant at the Open University of Israel and PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science) studied arguments articulated by diverse members of the Right-Wing elite in Israel and explains how these views lead to the rejection of a two-state solution and…

The work presented in this thesis addresses the role of the locus coeruleus (LC) - norepinephrine (NE) system in various aspects of human cognition, and the modulation of brain state.

Organizations often announce their protest activities prior to their implementation to mobilize awareness, recruit supporters, and receive media attention. We are interested in the effectiveness of protest announcements—that is, under what conditions governments make concessions to avoid having an announced…

On 7 May 2020, Jolanda van der Vliet defended her thesis 'The International Legal Protection of Environmental Refugees. A human rights-based, security and State responsibility approach'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. N.J. Schrijver and Prof. J.J.C. Voorhoeve.

On 12 November, Clare Fenwick defended her doctoral thesis, The Political Economy of Immigration and Welfare State Reform: A Collection of Comparative Political and Economic Essays on Human Mobility and Social Protection. The PhD research was supervised by Olaf van Vliet and Kees Goudswaard.

Antoaneta Dimitrova, Hoogleraar Comparative Governance, analyseerde als coördinator van het drie jaar durende internationale onderzoeksproject EU-Strat de relatie tussen de EU en de landen van het Oostelijk Partnerschap en deelde haar expertise over dit onderwerp in een artikel in Trouw.

WORLDING AMERICA researches how ‘play’ has been a key force in the past and present process of creating America as a coherent and hegemonic ‘world,’ from 1503 to the present.

Is online radicalisation is an analytically useful concept when discussing contemporary cases of terrorism?

On 19 December 2019, Reza Eftekhar defended his thesis 'The Role of the Domestic Law of the Host State in Determining the ratione materiae Jurisdiction of Investment Treaty Tribunals: The Partial Revival of the Localisation Theory'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. E. de Brabandere.

Arts and culture, Studium Generale

Political scientist Wouter Veenendaal received an NWO Veni grant for his research on the political stability of small states. 'I find small states fascinating, they are almost always excluded from comparative research, while in fact they often challenge existing theories in political science.'

In January 2020 the book “Private Enforcement of European Competition and State Aid Law”, edited by Ferdinand Wollenschläger, Wolfgang Wurmnest & Thomas M.J. Möllers, was published by Wolters Kluwer.

Lecturer Michiel Luining appeared as a guest on a EU panel on the Dutch BNR Radio programme ‘Zakendoen’. During the item the ongoing political games surrounding the EU top positions after the European Elections held in May 2019 were discussed.

De rol van de Raad van State staat opnieuw ter discussie. Kritiek uit de politiek botst met staatsrechtelijke analyses, terwijl experts waarschuwen voor aantasting van het gezag van het instituut. Staatsrechtgeleerde, Wim Voermans, duidt de zaak in een artikel van JAS nieuws.

In the event of disagreements between states, a tribunal or arbitration may offer a solution. International dispute settlement is a relatively new but fast-growing field within law, Professor Eric de Brabandere explains. Inaugural lecture 23 February.

Moldavia is going through a governmental crisis. Antoaneta Dimitrova was asked to clarify the events on the Dutch radio programme ‘Bureau Buitenland’. She commented on the current political relations but also issued a warning: ‘Panic is rising, there is a real danger of conflict in the country.’

Luc Verheij, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law (Kircheiner chair) at Leiden Law School has been appointed as a member of the 'Raad van State', the Dutch Council of State. Verheij was already a State Councillor at the Advisory Division since 2011. He will continue to fulfill this role…

On 6 October 2018 Maarten Aalbers presented the first findings of a research paper, he is currently co - writing with Dr. Ben Van Rompuy, at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels.

On Friday 23 November 2018 Professor W. (Willemien) den Ouden and Professor J.E. (Jacobine) van den Brink acted as keynote speakers at a conference entitled Private Enforcement of European Competition and State Aid Law: Current challenges and the way forward.

One way for governments to conduct foreign policy and promote national interests is through direct outreach and communication with the population of a foreign country. This is called public diplomacy. Historians such as Helmer Helmers and William T. Rossiter have shown that printed media were already…

On 3 September 2019, Ilektra Antonaki defended her thesis 'Privatisations and golden shares: Bridging the gap between the State and the market in the area of free movement of capital in the EU'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. S.C.G. Van den Bogaert.

In this article, Yannick Veilleux-Lepage and Tommy van Steen, assistant professors at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, discuss the degree of consensus within the field of terrorism studies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the activities of violent non-state actors.