Crisis or Opportunity? Multilateralism in a Polycentric World

A discussion event held at the Policy Center for the New South/ PCNS) addressed this question.

Building on a new policy paper entitled “Crisis or opportunity? Pockets of effective multilateralism in a polycentric world” by Prof. Len Ishmael (Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South / PCNS), Prof. Andy Sumner (King’s College London), and Prof. Stephan Klingebiel (IDOS), the three authors held a discussion event at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) in Rabat on 16 January 2026. The event brought together university members (Mohammed VI Polytechnic University), researchers from PCNS, and members of the diplomatic corps in Rabat.

The paper addresses the sometimes sharply diverging perspectives on current international relations, which are perceived primarily as a crisis in Europe and other parts of the Western world, while various actors in the Global South view them as an opportunity to make an overall unjust system of international order more equitable.

Watch the full session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iQI4-NJVBs