Alexander Aerts

Alexander Aerts is a Researcher affiliated with the Department of History at the European University Institute (EUI). His research focuses on 20th-century political theory and European history, particularly examining the intellectual frameworks shaping postwar European integration. His doctoral thesis, titled Kojève and Schmitt on postwar Europe: from colonial taking to neocolonial giving, explores the contrasting visions of Alexandre Kojève and Carl Schmitt regarding Europe's geopolitical and ideological evolution after World War II, emphasizing colonial legacies and neocolonial dynamics.

Supervised by Prof. Nicolas Guilhot, Aerts’ work interrogates the intersections of political philosophy, postcolonial theory, and European institutional development. His research contributes to critical debates about the intellectual foundations of contemporary European cooperation and the lingering impacts of colonialism on postwar state-building.