Dr. Erik de Lange

Erik de Lange is an Assistant Professor in the History of International Relations at the Department of History and Art History. He works on the role of the sea in international history. The sea is a crucial place, where states meet and interact, ideas about international order are developed and international rules are implemented or challenged. He previously explored these topics in his first book on the fight against piracy in the Mediterranean Sea during the nineteenth century. His current research project, funded by an NWO XS grant (2026-2027), analyses how the bottom of the sea became a space of international law and conflict when a network of submarine telegraph cables spread around the globe in the run-up to the First World War. 

Beyond his academic work, Erik contributes to the popularisation of scientific knowledge on the sea as a member of the United Nations National Ocean Decade Committee, regular contributor to various Dutch media and co-organiser of the Pathways to Sustainability Kickstarter Project ‘Ocean Governance in a Contested World Order: Weathering the Storm’. 

Erik de Lange has been a member of the Utrecht Young Academy, a bridge between young and talented researchers, since 2026.