Learning to Govern a Fragmented World

Politics

Jun 12, 2026

Dennis J. Snower

As the postwar multilateral order gives way to a multipolar and more contested world, global governance must adapt or risk irrelevance. The upcoming G7 summit offers a unique opportunity to champion a coalition-based approach that translates shared interests into collective action.

LONDON—When G7 leaders gather in Évian on June 15, they will confront a postwar order that has run its course. The United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions, and other pillars of international cooperation—all founded on the belief that universal rules could underpin global governance—delivered decades of relative stability and economic integration. But today’s world is too multipolar, too digitally interconnected, and too politically heterogeneous for broad consensus alone to serve as the primary mechanism for managing global affairs.