POLIscope Strategic Horizon 2026: Global Agendas and the Forces Reshaping Them

Prepared by the POLIscope Team

As we enter 2026, the international system is undergoing a structural transformation, more profound than any shift experienced since the end of the Cold War. The post-Second World War rules-based order is no longer merely under strain, but now fragmenting under the pressure of assertive unilateralist doctrines, intensified strategic competition, and the reassertion of offensive realist approaches from major and middle powers alike.

We are experiencing a stark return to great-power competition and their spheres of influence, where international law is selectively weaponised, and sovereignty is treated as conditional. Consequently, the protection of global public goods is eroding: climate action and water justice are being subordinated to hard-power security, while the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable — civilians in conflict zones, migrants at borders, and marginalised social groups — are systematically stripped away. The multilateral bodies designed to prevent these regressions are facing an existential crisis of both legitimacy and funding, leaving a dangerous vacuum that global powers and private actors are eager to fill.

This article identifies and analyses a total of seven, high-impact issues across our four research programmes. Each issue is anchored in concrete events or developments occurring before and during 2026, aiming to map the trajectory of a world in transition. In doing so, we are analysing how the normalisation of intervention with impunity is reshaping Global Peace and Security, and how the securitisation of both physical borders and domestic social policies threatens Human Rights, Migration and Justice.