The Rules of Peace and Prosperity: History, Economics and Politics (RPP) - Session 1

A joint webinar between the Geneva Graduate Institute Hoffmann Centre for Global Sustainability and the CEPR Economic History Programme Area and the Preventing Conflict: Policies for Peace RPN.

The aim of this webinar is to bring together top-level expertise from economics, history and political science to debate the importance, evolution and stability of a rule-based order—domestically and internationally. Possible topics include: the origins of the domestic rule of law and of international rules- based multilateralism; the relation between rules-based orders, economic prosperity and peace; the use of economic power for political aims and the stability of economic and political orders. We seek to bring an inter-disciplinary approach to these topics by combining deep historical knowledge with frontier theory and empirical methodology from economics and political science.

The sessions of The Rules of Peace and Prosperity: History, Economics and Politics (RPP) will run on the first or second Thursday of each month during term time at 5pm CET (Paris/ Geneva/ Rome time). The seminars will run for 75 minutes over zoom. 

Session 1: 

December 4th, 2025: James Robinson (University of Chicago and CEPR) presents "Rules or People?"