Think Change Podcast: What trends will shape 2026?

2025 has tested the resilience of the international system. Aid budgets have been slashed, debt pressures have mounted across low-income countries, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence have outpaced political and regulatory responses. At the same time, political violence, democratic backsliding and public dissent have intensified while humanitarian crises and genocide continue to expose the limits of existing multilateral responses.

Against this backdrop, global power is fragmenting as supply chains are being reshaped, economic nationalism is on the rise, and geopolitical competition is increasingly defining how states engage with one another.

On this special episode of ODI Global's Think Change podcast Urvashi joins speakers:

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Comfort Ero, CEO, Crisis Group
• Sir Vince Cable, Former Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Distinguished Fellow, ODI Global

Tune in as they explore how dynamics of technological disruption, economic stress and geopolitical realignment are redefining cooperation and what realistic shifts could help strengthen global governance and collective action as we move into 2026.