The current rules-based global order is a product of the Second World War. But much has happened in the last 78 years. China’s GDP (PPP) in 1990 was a mere 16% of that of the U.S. In 2021, China’s GDP (PPP) overtook that of the U.S. India’s GDP is expected to be on par with that of the U.S. by around 2045. The population of the African continent is currently estimated at 1.5 billion and expected to grow by another billion until 2050, while Europe’s population will decline from 741 million to 704 in the same time-span. Latin American, Asian, MENA and BRICS states intend to implement trade mechanisms with which they can become independent from the U.S. Dollar. Technological innovation undergoes a geographic shift from the North-West of the world map to the East and the South. Countries of the “global South” challenge the dominance of the “global West”.

While present-day heads of states attempt to defend, challenge, or renegotiate their positions under the pressure of current events, for futurists the question poses itself differently: What could global orders look like fifty years from now? What do we see emerging from the liminality in current relations? What are the possible, probable, and desirable world orders when looked at from different perspectives? We have invited the panelists to explore such perspectives.