Global power is shifting from rigid alliances to more fluid, efficiency-driven alignments, where bilateral and plurilateral relationships are increasingly defining the emerging world order. Flexible groupings like the QUAD and BRICS are navigating new roles amid complex and often competing visions of global governance. This panel will explore how coalition-based diplomacy is redefining global rulemaking, balancing efficiency with legitimacy, and questioning whether a new consensus can emerge in an era of fluid alliances.
It will also examine the drivers behind institutional realignment and assess what this means for representation, resilience, and reform in global governance, particularly in the more formally established plurilateral groupings like ASEAN and G20. Will regional and issue-based coalitions evolve into a new, legitimate and more adaptive form of multilateralism? What will the post-alliance framework look like? How can the Global South move from fragmented interests to a unified reform agenda that represents the interests of its over six billion people through such coalitions and groupings? Can regional governance frameworks like ASEAN and BIMSTEC evolve into effective platforms for multilateralism in the absence of global consensus, and is the Indo-Pacific particularly suited for such models? Given that overlapping and competing coalitions can create systemic risks, how can these groupings evolve to ensure legitimacy and resilience in global governance?
Speakers
- Ashok Malik, Partner and Chair of the India Practice, The Asia Group, India
- Philips J. Vermonte, Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Presidential Communication Office, Indonesia
- Sinderpal Singh, Senior Fellow & Assistant Director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, RSIS; Coordinator, Regional Security Architecture Programme, and South Asia Programme, IDSS, Singapore
- Lisa Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Australia India Institute, Australia
- Moderator Sunaina Kumar, Director, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation, India