In the minor Global Affairs, students will explore the practical side of International Relations from a variety of perspectives, such as diplomacy, geo-economics, geopolitics, international organizations, international security, and global governance.

Security is key to survival for any living organism: life is full of perils and threats, both physically, environmentally, and societally. Security challenges such as terrorism, natural disasters, and cybercrime rank among the most pressing issues of our time, affecting the security and safety of millions…

This project investigates the capacities of EU institutions to coordinate the responses of member states to critical events.

People who are arrested on suspicion of preparing an attack are at risk of becoming radicalised either during or after their detention. Whether or not to arrest someone requires careful consideration. At the end of the prison sentence, it is important to provide effective supervision of the reintegration…

In the Bachelor’s in Security Studies you study 21st century security challenges and learn to devise strategic solutions to a complex world.

In an increasingly complex and security-challenged society, the CSM programme provides you with the theoretical and practical skills to understand the issues underlying security challenges and develop solutions for crisis and security management.

The combination of academic and professional skills taught in the CSM prepares you for a wide variety of careers in the rapidly expanding domain of security and crisis management, including public or private sector and policy-making positions.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) focuses on multidisciplinary research and education within the international scientific field of security studies.

Odile Bodde tells about her stay in London at King's College...

La radicalisation est devenue un mot désignant notre monde en couleurs négatives. Ce livre cherche à comprendre ce que c'est que la radicalisation au Sahel et aux Pays-Bas?

If you are interested in joining our Graduate School, you will find the information you need on this website. Feel free to send us your questions.

Curious to know how studying in The Hague looks like? Take our VR tour through The Hague!

Find out how to apply for Crisis and Security Management at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Some conflicts involve many Muslims as foreign fighters; other conflicts attract only relatively few combatants from abroad. Isabele Duvesteyn and Bram Peeters

Alumni event, Lezing

This online advanced summer programme of Leiden University and ICCT focuses on the field of preventing, detecting and responding to violent extremism and gives insight in the opportunities and challenges of various approaches.

As a result of two attacks in Germany and one attack in France within only one week, fears of new terrorist attacks in Europe have reignited. In France a radicalised police agent stabbed and killed four people. In Germany a man from Syria drove his car into a line of cars wounding sixteen people and…

Study information

Security in the broadest sense of the word was the key focus in the Interfaculty Conference on 4 April in Leiden. With almost 200 attendees and such well-known speakers as Dick Schoof, Pieter van Vollenhoven and Ad Verbrugge, the first conference was a success.

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to imagine warfare without unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. For instance, they have been deployed in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are the current laws of war adequate to address the use of drones? PhD candidate James Welch will defend his thesis on 21 March.

The Secular Outlook describes what moral and political secularism means. It paints the image of a world view in which state and religion are kept well separated.

This book underscores the interplay between religion and politics (local and global) in the production, escalation, management, mitigation, and resolution of conflict.

As a student in Security Studies you are a socially engaged critical thinker eager to study real-life security cases in an academic setting. You focus not just on the broad context of these issues but also on the role of government, institutions and media. Want to know more? Sign up for one of our Open…

Most people know what law is. But what it should be or where it comes from is what interests the researchers from the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law. Key to their approach are topics that go right to the heart of philosophy of law. What is a state? What are the limitations of…

Public International Law is a one-year Master’s specialisation at the internationally acclaimed Leiden Law School at Leiden University. The programme focuses on the legal framework that governs international relations in an increasingly complex global society.

Most families were utterly overwhelmed when they found out that their son or daughter had suddenly left for Syria, that is what Daan Weggemans, Marieke van der Zwan and Marieke Liem observe in their research on family members of Dutch jihadists.

The Hofstad group is known mainly because of Mohammed B., the murderer of Theo van Gogh. PhD candidate Bart Schuurman examined this Dutch jihadist group based on interviews and confidential police files. How and why did the group come about? What drove some of the group members to commit terrorist…

Graig Klein, assistant professor at the Institute of Security of Global Affairs (ISGA), has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) for his project TERGAP. With this 1.500.000 euro grant Klein and his research team will investigate terrorist groups’ decision-making and strategic…

GLOBALINT is a pioneering study of intelligence in the Global South. It asks ‘how do (un)democratic shifts in political governance impact intelligence services in contexts of violent conflict?

This book focuses on transnationalism as a key concept to evaluate how Europe responds to cross-border security challenges.

The Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

This study by artist Jonas Staal explores the development of propaganda art from the 20th to the 21st century.

While Nietzsche's works and ideas are relevant across the many branches of philosophy, the themes of contest and conflict have been mostly overlooked. Conflict and Contest in Nietzsche's Philosophy redresses this situation, arguing for the importance of these issues throughout Nietzsche's work.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is a scientific institute that specialises in security issues. The ISGA is a part of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs at Leiden University. The ISGA has developed from the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism (CTC) and the Centre…

This PhD project analyses the politics and aesthetics of depictions of torture in American and European ‘war on terror’ films.

This research note argues that the “lone wolf” typology should be fundamentally reconsidered.

This article examines how the threat of terrorism has been addressed at the policy level through an analysis of a specific case in Mali.

During the CSM programme, you will have interactive guest lectures with professionals active in the security domain. The guest lecturers will speak about their career (development) and how they reached their goals.

Still have questions about the Master’s programme Crisis and Security Management? Please don’t hesitate to contact us!

This specialisation offers a structured, challenging curriculum balancing substantive and skills-oriented courses, including a number of elective seminars, plus a research thesis.

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

Terrorism destabilizes governments, undermines civil society, threatens social and economic development, endangers democracy, and directly impacts human rights. The extraordinary events on 9/11 turned counterterrorism into a global governance project. The global collaboration is unprecedented with traditional…