The world today resembles a game in motion - multiple players, asymmetric moves, and no agreed set of rules. Power is diffused, alliances are fluid, and the boundaries between economics, technology, and geopolitics have blurred beyond recognition. This session takes stock of the major inflexion points of 2025 that cannot be ignored - from the redistribution of power and the weaponisation of technology and trade to the reordering driven by climate action, demographic shifts, and digital transformation. Is there any coherence in today’s global landscape - and what can we expect as the world moves into 2026?

• In the ongoing consequential shifts in global power, influence, and institutions, which are structural versus cyclical?
• How must countries navigate these shifts? How can middle powers and emerging economies exert agency amid great power flux?
• How are economic and technological rivalries redefining alliances and dependencies across regions?
• What are the blind spots in how policymakers, markets, and analysts are interpreting today’s disruptions?

Moderator

TP Sreenivasan, Director General, Kerala International Centre, Kerala

Speakers

Pradeep Chauhan, Director General, National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi

Shristi Pukhrem, Director, Act East Centre & Visiting Fellow, India Foundation, New Delhi

Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, Associate Professor, Nalanda University, Bihar

Biren Nanda, Senior Fellow, Delhi Policy Group, New Delhi

Swati Arun, Fellow and Head of Operations, Natstrat, New Delhi