If abandoning global institutions isn’t the answer, what holds cooperation together now?
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If abandoning global institutions isn’t the answer, what holds cooperation together now?
In a keynote address at the Emerging Political Economies (EPE) Network Meeting hosted by the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at Wits University, Zane Dangor said that the world is not simply in transition but at a point of rupture.
Dangor, who is the Director-General of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, explained that the time is ripe to imagine a new multilateralism defined by common norms, fairer development and a global system in which low- and middle-income countries are not only “rule takers” but co-authors of the next political and economic era.
The ideals of the post-World War II global order arose from the ruins of nationalism and violence, and were bound by shared rules and values. While never perfect, abandoning the institutions built to prevent severe fragmentation will entrench “might is right” and unequal power relations.
Dangor promoted a cohesive international system, where engagement, rules and diplomacy take precedence over coercion and polarisation.
“We see, however, that tariffs, sanctions, financial systems, supply chains and securitisation are new tools through which power is being exercised. For countries without the military or economic power of major states, this is particularly dangerous. If multilateral institutions become irrelevant, there are fewer guardrails and a greater risk of wars and conflict. The answer, then, cannot be simply to walk away from global institutions, but repurpose them,” said Dangor.
What global institutional reform requires
Thus, a broader focus on inclusive development, rather than a narrow focus on security, is central to global institutional reform. “The question is no longer only how states protect themselves from each other, but how the global system addresses inequality, climate breakdown, financial subordination, development and democratic instability.”
足球竞彩app排名ly, a renewed multilateralism would treat African countries not as sites of extraction or arenas for geopolitical competition, but as agenda-setters in the design of the next global order.
Beyond the state and the market
The Emerging Political Economy (EPE) Network brings together scholars, policymakers and civil society leaders from across the world to unpack what a more equal, democratic and habitable world looks like.
One of Professor Wendy Carlin's presentations showed that economic policy can move beyond the familiar state-market continuum. Carlin, from University College London, explained that care work, climate, workplace relations, corporate governance, democratic participation and community life cannot be understood only through markets and state intervention. A future global architecture would therefore need to recognise the role of civil society, public institutions, communities and non-market forms of value.
This also connects to the African Care and Climate Innovation Alliance Hub, presented by Chevonne Reynolds, which placed care and climate at the centre of economic life. Care work and ecological systems sustain economies, yet both are often unpaid, undercounted or treated as external. The ACACIA framing is that the climate crisis and the care crisis are the same crisis: care policy is climate policy because care keeps communities and environments functioning.
Traditional multilateral institutions often ignored these concepts.
A new multilateral order
The EPE network debated what multilateralism must become to remain legitimate.
Professor Imraan Valodia, SCIS director and Pro VC: Climate and Inequality at Wits University explained that a new world could be less dominated by the countries and institutions that shaped the post-war order. It would need to give the Global South greater power in creating shared norms and values.
“It would need to connect climate and development, rather than treating them as competing priorities. It would need to regulate finance, not simply enable it. It would need to protect policy space for countries trying to industrialise, decarbonise and reduce inequality at the same time,” he said.
Top 5 key takeaways
- Don’t abandon global institutions, but remake them: Walking away from global institutions risks a world where “might is right” replaces rules, diplomacy and cooperation. The task is not to discard multilateralism, but to repurpose it for a world shaped by inequality, climate breakdown, financial instability and geopolitical rupture.
- The Global South must be central to creating a new order: A renewed multilateralism cannot treat low- and middle-income countries as rule takers. African and Global South countries must be co-authors of the next global order, with greater power to shape rules on development, climate, finance, trade and security.
- Development must move to the centre: Global institutional reform cannot focus only on security. A legitimate multilateral system must address inequality, debt, democratic instability, climate justice and development together, especially for countries trying to industrialise, decarbonise and reduce poverty at the same time.
- The economy is bigger than states and markets: Future global institutions must recognise what old systems ignored: care work, ecological systems, communities, workplaces and democratic participation. Care and climate are not side issues but central to the running of a successful economic life.
- Cooperation needs fairer guardrails: Tariffs, sanctions, financial systems, supply chains and securitisation are increasingly used as tools of power. A new multilateral order must regulate finance, protect policy space and prevent coercion, especially for countries with less economic and military power.