By Siena Cicarelli

The final episode of Season 1 of the Nexus²⁵ project podcast, Reshaping Multilateralism, is now available on Spotify and the Nexus²⁵ website. This first season saw significant geopolitical and multilateral challenges; episodes have covered the transition from the Biden to the Trump Administration, European Parliament elections, actions on global food security, and the response to extreme weather events across South Asia and Africa. 

For this final episode, Nexus25 co-lead Michael Werz brought in Margarita Gomez, the Executive Director of Southern Voice in Mexico City, and Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, Head of Special Projects at the ISS in Pretoria, to discuss the next key events on the multilateral calendar: the upcoming COP and G20 Summits. As the world continues to reel from US disengagement, these forums will serve as an inflection point, raising a few key questions for the multilateral community: 

• Are the COP forums still fit for purpose, or have they been permanently hijacked? 
• Can the Global South – especially the BRICS partners – form a cohesive, sustainable development agenda? 
• Will the G20 format survive – or will a G19 without the United States be the norm? 
• In light of resurgent conflicts in the Middle East, will the multilateral community be able to balance climate and development investments with national security interests? 

During the discussion, Michael, Margarita, and Ottilia attempt to answer these questions, reflect on the first six months of the Trump Administration, and offer a few suggestions for leaders seeking to navigate current geopolitical uncertainty.

 “Reshaping Multilateralism” is a production of the Nexus²⁵ project, a joint Istituto Affari Internazionali / Center for Climate and Security initiative funded by Stiftung Mercator and produced in partnership with storielibere.fm. Subscribe via your favorite podcast platform, visit www.nexus25.org, and stay tuned for inside analysis from global experts on global security, climate security, climate finance, the future of multilateralism, and more.