The report examines the growing role of middle powers in renewing multilateralism at a time of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, declining trust in international institutions and increasing pressure on the rules-based international system. Based on a panel discussion convened during the 2026 Academic Council on the United Nations System Annual Meeting in Lisbon, it considers how middle powers can contribute more strategically to strengthening global cooperation.
The report argues that major global challenges, including armed conflict, climate change, humanitarian crises, food insecurity, migration, technological disruption and sustainable development, cannot be effectively addressed by individual states acting alone. Yet cooperation has become increasingly difficult as great-power competition and political polarisation weaken the ability of international institutions to build consensus and respond collectively.
Against this backdrop, middle powers have an important opportunity to exercise leadership through coalition-building, mediation, agenda-setting and the defence of international law and multilateral institutions. Their ability to maintain relationships across competing political groupings and, in many cases, across both the Global North and Global South, can enable them to serve as bridge-builders in an increasingly fragmented international environment. However, their influence will depend on sustained cooperation around shared objectives rather than simply their collective size.
The report also emphasises that renewing multilateralism requires more than institutional reform. Greater attention must be given to communication, public legitimacy and reconnecting international institutions with the people they are intended to serve.
Finally, the appointment of the next United Nations Secretary-General is presented as an opportunity to renew political leadership and forge stronger partnerships between the UN and middle powers. The report ultimately calls for more coordinated, issue-based middle-power cooperation to help build a more effective, inclusive and resilient multilateral order.
*This is a summary of a report jointly published by GSPN and ISI. The full report can be accessed here
Global South Perspectives Network 
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