Pierre du Bois Chair Public Lecture
From Empire to Federation: Can the European Union become the paradigm for a new world order?
Tuesday, 20 October 2026 | 18:30–20:00
Auditorium Ivan Pictet A1-B | Maison de la paix, Geneva and online
The Pierre du Bois Chair Public Lecture by Professor Anthony Pagden, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and History at UCLA, took place on 20 October 2026 at the Geneva Graduate Institute. The lecture formed part of the 2026–2027 Pierre du Bois Chair Public Lecture Series, convened by Professor Stella Ghervas.
About the Lecture
For centuries, empires constituted some of the most enduring forms of political organisation. Over the past two centuries, however, they have largely given way to nation-states. Today, the nation-state itself is undergoing profound change, raising new questions about the political forms capable of responding to an increasingly interconnected world.
In his lecture, Anthony Pagden examined federation as an alternative model of political organisation. By bringing different nations together across large geographical spaces, federal structures may offer a response to the limitations of both national isolation and the present international order. Against this background, the lecture considered whether the European Union might provide a model for a broader order based on federal principles.
Speaker
Anthony Pagden is Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Political Science and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has previously held academic positions at institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, the Warburg Institute, the European University Institute, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, the École des hautes études and the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
His research focuses on European history and Europe’s overseas empires, the European Union, federalism, international law and global governance. His recent books include The Pursuit of Europe: A History (2022) and Beyond States: Peoples, Powers and Global Order (2024).
Professor Pagden also gave a Master Class for Professor Stella Ghervas’s course “Europe in the World” on 21 October 2026, from 12:15 to 14:00.
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