Quo vadis multilateralism? International cooperation in a changing global order

Our world is more connected than ever before. Many of today’s challenges are global in nature and require cooperation among nations to address them effectively. From the provision of rules governing global trade and finance to the agenda to combat climate change and harness the benefits of transformative new technologies while managing risks, international cooperation is indispensable. Yet the multilateral system—the institutions, rules, and policies to foster global collective action—is faltering. Undermined by long-standing shortcomings and failure to evolve with a dynamic global economy, it now confronts a rapidly and profoundly changing geopolitical and technological landscape. The current conjuncture calls for a bold reimagination of multilateralism, to build a multilateral system fit for today’s challenges and reflective of contemporary economic and geopolitical realities.

On December 9, 2025, the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, jointly with the Korea Development Institute (KDI), held a conference titled “Quo Vadis Multilateralism? International Cooperation in a Changing Global Order.” The conference discussed the findings of ongoing research under a joint Brookings-KDI project that examines the implications of the changing world order for global economic governance and explores how multilateralism needs to be rethought. The conference agenda ranged from systemic issues of how the broad architecture of multilateralism may be reshaped to specific governance challenges in key areas such as international trade, global financial stability, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, and climate change.

All presentations made at the conference are available for download on this page. Underlying research will be published in a book next year.