MercyKo - 2026 Global Issue Report: Looking Beyond the Headlines
This year I wrote chapter 7 of MercyKo's 2026 Global Issues Report, titled Multilateralism Under Strain: Institutional Decline, Protectionism, and the Search for a New Global Order. I expected a fairly routine research assignment on the UN and WTO, but it ended up changing how I think about international cooperation.
The chapter looks at the criticism facing both institutions, the rise of protectionism, and the growing calls for new frameworks as cooperation weakens. What I kept coming back to is that the debate isn't really about any single organization. Rather, it's about whether countries can still solve problems together, and what happens if they can't. Institutions like these only make headlines when they fail, but the bigger story is how much of the international order we've taken for granted.
Looking ahead to 2027, I'll be stepping into the role of president soon, and I'm greatly looking forward to it. I have a few initiatives in mind and goals to make next year's Global Issues Report our strongest yet.
Please read the PDF version of the 2026 Global Issues Report using the link below:
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