Research and teaching in the cluster span a broad range of core issues, including:

• the evolution of international relations and global and regional orders;
• international cooperation, law, norms, and practices, such as human rights and peace operations;
• the design, functioning, effectiveness, legitimacy, and reform of regional and international organisations;
• international political economy, with a focus on climate and environmental policy, trade, economic sanctions, and security finance;
• the dynamics, outcomes, and implications of inter- and intra-state conflict;
• European, international, global, and multi-level governance of major societal challenges, including questions of democratic accountability and legitimacy;
• EU decision-making, institutions, policies, and foreign relations.

Cluster members employ a wide range of theoretical perspectives—from rationalist to constructivist and from liberal to realist approaches—and diverse empirical methods and tools, including statistical analysis, large language models, comparative case studies, discourse analysis and interpretation, process tracing, and ethnography. Through their research, teaching, and public engagement, members of the cluster contribute to academic debates as well as policy-relevant discussions on the future of international order, global governance, politics in Europe, and Europe’s relations with the wider world.

The cluster is closely connected to the Leiden University Centre for International Relations (LUCIR) and Leiden University’s Europe Hub, strengthening its engagement with students, the public, policymakers, the media, and national and international scholarly networks.

• european politics
• european union
• international politics
• international relations
• political science

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