Prospects for global governance in an age of disruptions

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has deepened geopolitical fault lines at a time when the international community faces daunting common challenges, from climate change to pandemics, from inequalities to coping with an expanding range of security risks. At the same time, awareness of the need for common action, and of the staggering costs of inaction, is growing, and governance innovation offers new opportunities to manage complex problems. The question is whether sufficient political capital, and resources, will be invested to shape a multilateral system that is fit for the future, or the global governance deficit risks deepening.

To address these critical issues, this FEPS workshop adopted a foresight approach. Participants were asked to take the long view, with a 10 years’ time-horizon, and focus on a) elements of continuity/discontinuity, b) emerging/declining trends, c) main uncertainties and potential wild cards, as well as d) implications for the EU. Under each session, the proceedings were sequenced to address these four key elements that structure our foresight approach. This workshop informed a report aiming to help policymakers identify the long-term implications of the war in Ukraine and adopt a strategic approach to the current challenges.

On 07 November, FEPS organized the second roundtable of this series, focusing on “Prospects for global governance in an age of disruptions” in which issues like the future of multilateralism, challenges to global governance, prospects for reform, and how the war affects prospects for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were tackled.    

This event is part of the Foresight series ‘The long-term implications of the war in Ukraine‘, which was launched in partnership with the Renner Institute and the Olof Palme International Center. Its objective is to reflect on the mid-to-long-term consequences of the conflict at Europe’s doorsteps. This project consists of a series of high-level expert roundtables, each addressing the impact of the war in Ukraine on distinct aspects of the international agenda and the international order at large.

The first event ‘The geopolitics of energy and the Green Transition‘ took place at FEPS Headquarters, in Brussels.

The second event ‘Prospects for global governance in an age of disruptions‘ took place at FEPS Headquarters, in Brussels.

The third event ‘Trade and global supply chains in 2030‘ took place at FEPS Headquarters, in Brussels.