- Middle powers are influential states that sit below superpowers and great powers.
- They could be instrumental in forming a new multilateralism to help solve global challenges.
- The topic was discussed in the Davos 2024 session ‘Middle Powers in a Multipolar World’.
António Guterres’ Special Address at Davos 2024 was stark. The United Nations Secretary-General warned that the world must act now in the face of “serious, even existential threats” posed by climate change and the development of artificial intelligence without guardrails.
“We have no effective global strategy to deal with either,” he said. “Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions.”
He was, however, optimistic that a solution could be found in building a new multipolar global order through “a reformed, inclusive and networked multilateralism”.
Middle powers – which havelong played an important role in international innovation and mediation – could be key to realizing this vision, according to a new World Economic Forum whitepaper, Shaping Cooperation in a Fragmenting World.
Related
Middle powers today have more agency than at any time since World War II (F Policy)
Importance Of The Middle Powers – International Research
Middle Powers are reshaping geopolitics – Financial Times
Strategic interdependence: Europe’s new approach in a world of middle powers (ECFR)
The new world order and the rise of the middle powers (Financial Times)
Middle Powers in the Multipolar World (peacediplomacy.og)
Briefing Can Middle Powers Save the Liberal World Order? (Chatham House)
