Former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has called for a new “non-aligned movement,” arguing that the Global South must unify as today’s international order is collapsing under growing great-power rivalry (instigated by the U.S.). The “old order” is “unlikely to be restored” he says.
Speaking at the “2026 Answer Show, Thinker Spring Festival Gala” hosted by China’s Guancha (Observer Network), Saran said global debate has become too fixates on U.S.-China competition, ignoring the wider spread of power across developing nations. He argues that the future will be multipolar, rather than a bipolar world dominated by the U.S. and China, or even a monopolar world which he thinks would be dominated by China.
Saran warned that the world faces increasingly transnational threats, from pandemics to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, none of which can be solved by military strength alone. Yet, he said, international institutions are declining precisely when global cooperation is increasingly necessary. He pointed to the contradiction between the need for international cooperation to address prominent challenges on the one hand, and the move away from multilateralism on the other.
