External publications

Global order in transition: anxiety in the North, agency in the South

Ishmael, Len / Stephan Klingebiel / Andy Sumner
External Publications (2026)

published on www.policycenter.ma, 19.02.2026

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Is the present juncture a crisis or an opportunity for international cooperation? The answer is: both. For many in the North, established practices are clearly under strain, generating a pervasive sense of crisis. At the same time, actors in the Global South see an opportunity to shape a more inclusive and equitable multilateral system. This has long been a central aspiration. What looks like breakdown from a Northern vantage point can thus appear as rebalancing from the South. Agency has shifted, and so have the venues where cooperation advances. Institutions may be narrower in scope, but in several domains, they are broader and more innovative in delivery. The future of global cooperation will be written less in universal declarations, and more in who exercises agency.

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