‘Countering violent extremism – the international deradicalization agenda’ is the name of the book Tahir Abbas published last month. In this interview the associate professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at ISGA tells about the backgrounds and goals of the book.

Could policies aimed at preventing radicalisation undermine the very trust and social cohesion they aim to strengthen?

Study information

Study information

This reflection for Critical Studies on Terrorism, explores two decades of the 'War of Terror' and what it means today.

How have British, Dutch, and German security services dealt with political violence and terrorism since the late 1960s; to what extent did they consider these new phenomena as a task and how have they developed activities in order to counter these security threats?

Preventing terrorism before it happens seems like an idea no one would disagree to. But is it possible? How do counter-radicalisation policies look like? And are there dangers of unintended consequences? Francesco Ragazzi, Assistant Professor at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science, has…

Our courses are aimed at higher educated professionals, starters, experienced professionals and managers. You can choose from day-long Masterclasses, multi-day courses and an intensive one-year program. Our English courses about Terrorism, Law, Safety and Security are listed below.

Jelle van Buuren, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, in conversation with the NOS, warns to remain alert despite the reduced threat level for terrorism.

Academic research on terrorism is getting better all the time. This is the conclusion of university lecturer Bart Schuurman after studying 3,442 articles. He published his study in Terrorism and Political Violence.

This project compares and explains dynamics of cross-border cooperation among European actors in the field of counterterrorism (CT).

Jelle van Buuren, assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), does not understand that Mark van Ostaijen puts away the communication after the attacks like: ‘It is a confused man, you can rest easy.’

Counter-Discourse in Zimbabwean Literature is a study of specific aspects of counter-discursive Zimbabwean narratives in English. In discussing the selected texts, my thesis is based on Terdiman’s (1989) the postcolonial concept of counter-discourse.

In the track Governance of radicalism, extremism and terrorism you will be familiarised with the academic debate regarding these contested concepts.

This six-weeks online course delves into the research behind terrorism as it unpacks the assumptions and impacts of both terrorism and counterterrorism.

A cautious response to a crisis or terrorist act avoids the creation of a culture of fear. This is another way to reduce our vulnerability to terrorism.

Bart Schuurman is a research Fellow at the International Centre for Counterterrorism (ICCT) and at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) in The Hague. He was interviewed by Abigail Esman of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) about his new book 'Becoming A European Homegrown Jihadist'.…

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

Safety and security risks ranging from cybercrime to terrorism threats are a growing concern worldwide. Technological developments have made security issues increasingly complex. This is typically a topic for the multidisciplinary Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities (LDE) curriculum.

Together with a group of researchers from TU Delft and Erasmus University, Leiden University have received a seed grant for conducting a project “Perceived Risk of Terrorism and its Implications for (Counter-Terrorism) Communication Strategies”.

This article written by Marieke Liem & Alexander Kamprad investigates the relationship between terrorism and interpersonal violence. They conducted cross-national analyses on the effects of terrorism mortality rates on homicide rates. Results showed that terrorism appears to be robustly and positively…

Joana Cook talks about the Islamist parties increasingly taking power in the last four decades on ABC News.

After an terrorist attack, tough talk often follows. However, this is not the case with prime minister Arden in New-Zealand, says Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn, researcher at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs to the NOS.

On 31 May, during a three-hour live broadcast on the Dutch online television channel Islaam.tv, 100,400 euros was pledged to the Belgian-Moroccan imam Tarik Ibn Ali.

When does radicalization not lead to terrorist attacks?

The authors detail the transnationality of terrorist organisations, including fundraising, communications, alliance-forming, movement and target selection.

‘It's right and proper that we have policies to prevent terrorism,' says Francesco Ragazzi, university lecturer in International Relations at Leiden's Institute of Political Science. 'But the way the policies are designed and implemented can have unintended consequences. For example, when teachers are…

The fall of the IS caliphate is coming closer. At the same time, the AIVD warned for an increase in the return of especially the hardened warriors. How should Europe handle this? The shrinking of freedoms will only feed terrorist organizations like IS.

Risk has become one of the defining features of modern society. This course examines various types of safety and security risks, and how these are perceived and dealt with in a wide array of professional and academic fields, ranging from criminology, counter-terrorism and cyber security, to philosophy,…

From the research Terrorist threat in the Netherlands, the risk perception and opportunities for risk communication (Leiden University) shows that the Dutch respond relatively sober to attacks in neighboring countries and the possible risks of a terrorist threat. Half of the respondents believe that…

Tahir Abbas was named full professor of radicalization studies by the Executive Board. This chair, according to Abbas, is an excellent opportunity for ISGA to broaden its current focus on terrorism and political violence. Abbas was interviewed about his ambitions, writing as a form of relaxation, and…

A research team led by Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (Institute of Security and Global Affairs) in collaboration with Emil Archambault has secured funding from the Canadian Department of National Defence’s Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) program to study the use of drones by violent…

Toch kan je volgens dr. Jelle van Buuren dader Tobias R. niet in een bepaald hokje plaatsen. Van Buuren is kenner van het rechts-extremisme en reageert in het Reformatorisch Dagblad op de passages van Tobias R.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) hosts two research journals and publishes the ISGA Reports series. Besides its own publications, researchers at ISGA also publish books or journal articles elsewhere. You can find all these external publications under Research output on the right.

Nobody is better qualified to tell you what it is like to work at Leiden University than the employees themselves. Watch the videos and meet your future colleagues. They will be happy to share their experiences with you.

Marieke Liem en Edwin Bakker have published an article in the Dutch Magazine Criminology. The article tells us the following:

At the winter conference of the Dutch Christian student union CSFR, Mark Dechesne, Associate Professor, spoke about the decline in terrorist violence in the Netherlands.

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn teaches the masterclass terrorism 2018 together with Edwin Bakker. Read the interview here.

Subproject of

Subproject of

Self-censorship violates principles of a free society but few people want to take the role of the martyr.

How do the pathways of Dutch converts to Islam involved in jihadist movements differ from those of Dutch converts who are not, in terms of their life prior to Islam, their conversion experience and the form of involvement with the Islamic community after conversion?

Are you thinking about studying Crisis and Security Management: Governance of radicalism, extremism and terrorism? Learn more and watch the videos.

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

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.