Norms play an important role in international relations. Norms shape behaviour and provide a shared understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. One of the pillars of international relations is sovereignty. The norm of state sovereignty encompasses the norm of territorial integrity. Large-scale …

It’s late April 2022 in Bologna and we meet in Franco’s apartment. He shows me his collection of collages he produced in the Covid period, his art therapy to fight off depression. The paintings can be found here and there online, exhibited under the pseudonym Istubalz. We’ve come together to discuss …

We live in a hearing world. Others live in a deaf world. The deaf world has its own language, the sign language, Dutch or English or . . . Frisian. The deaf world also has its memorials, made out of stone. The only deaf memorial in the Netherlands --- and likely in the whole world --- is in Amsterdam, …

Many, many comparisons have been drawn in recent years between the current rise of (right-wing) populism and the financial crisis of 2008 that shook and continues to shake Europe to its core, and the tumultuous and horrifying events of the 1930s, which in the end resulted in the Second World War. A number …

We, humans have our roots in pre-Anthropocene eras where we gathered skills for survival and establishing our culture. The cumulated tacit knowledge, the skills, ideas and experiences that can only be shared by personal contact and mutual trust, is evolved and cumulated during this pre-Anthropocene era. …

After the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich in May 1945, Germany no longer existed as a sovereign, independent nation. It was occupied by the four Allied powers: France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. When it came to the postwar European recovery, the biggest obstacle …

The idea of European unity, in any case the official entity as it is commu­nicated by the European Commission, is intrinsically linked to the end of the Second World War: the Stunde Null or 'Hour Zero' on the 8th of May 1945. Industry was in shambles, many cities had been destroyed, and the European …

Tirana is the capital of Albania. A country that was completely isolated from Europe after the Second World War, as a result of the communist regime. When the communist government was dissolved in 1991, this resulted in large-scale migration. Albanians moved abroad, but also to the capital Tirana in …

The main objective of this report was to show the economic similarities and differences after the Second World War up until the end of the Cold War between the ‘leader of Europe’, Germany, and the upcoming country, Poland. The report focused on researching the Polish endeavours which helped the country …

A tangible proof of the meaning and scope of human flourishing that can change not only organizations but also entire societies, is given by Robert Schuman, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs who launched the Schuman Declaration (1950) that gave birth to the EU. His leitmotiv was to be a faithful …