Podcasts

Back

Sir. John Sawers on Multilateralism and Cooperation in a Complex Global Landscape

23
March 2024
Sara Mokaddem and Sir John Sawers

In this podcast with Sir. John Sawers, executive chairman of New Bridge Advisory, and former head of the British foreign intelligence service (MI6), we discuss the intricate dynamics of contemporary diplomacy and intelligence collaboration amidst shifting global trends. Through this episode, Sir. John Sawers shares his insights on the multifaceted challenges facing multilateralism and the subsequent impact on intelligence cooperation. The conversation focuses on the potential changes in the US administration and its implications for US-Europe relationship and for Europe's security alliances.

 

RELATED CONTENT

  • July 7, 2026
    For a long time, security in the Sahel relied on Western military deployments, which failed to curb the jihadist threat, thereby demonstrating the limitations of a cooperation model based on logistical and doctrinal dependence on foreign partners. The three Sahelian states have decided to break away from this system and build“integrated security sovereignty.” This approach has taken hold against a backdrop of openness to new partners. Russia has thus established itself as the main m ...
  • Authors
    July 6, 2026
    We take the 2026 G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains as a case study for understanding how a leading existing multilateral organisation adapts to a more fragmented, technologically inflected, and multipolar world. We argue that the significance of Évian lies less in the summit agreements themselves than in what the summit reveals: a qualitative shift in governance away from exclusive summit diplomacy and towards more selective coalition-building, broader engagement with non-state actors, a ...
  • July 3, 2026
    This Policy Paper has also been published in French and Spanish by Le Grand Continent Morocco offers a compelling example of how a middle-income economy can navigate a more fragmented global environment, characterized by weak growth and slower convergence. Since 2022, economic activity has remained relatively strong, with growth exceeding that of many comparable economies. Non-agricultural growth has averaged 4.4% since 2022, around 1.3 percentage points above its historical av ...
  • Authors
    Sous la direction de
    June 23, 2026
    L’Afrique atlantique émerge aujourd’hui comme un espace de réflexion stratégique majeur. Longtemps envisagée sous l’angle de sa fragmentation ou de sa marginalité relative dans les grands récits géopolitiques, cette façade maritime tend désormais à être appréhendée comme un ensemble en devenir, structuré par des dynamiques géopolitiques, économiques et sécuritaires de plus en plus intenses. C’est dans cette perspective qu’a été initié le Africa Maritime Symposium (AMS), dont la ...
  • June 22, 2026
    History devotes considerable attention to the rise and fall of great powers. Scholars have spent centuries analyzing why empires collapse, why nations decline, and why dominant states eventually lose their position. By comparison, relatively little attention has been devoted to a different question: what happens when a country succeeds beyond its own expectations? ...
  • June 22, 2026
    What does it take for think tanks to stay trusted, relevant, and heard in a world that's increasingly sceptical of institutions? At the Policy Center for the New South we put that question to keynote speakers Erica Schoder and Héctor Cárdenas on the sidelines of the OTT Conference 2026 ...