Complex Crises in Complex Times: Building Strategic Partnerships to Strengthen Multilateralism

In its fourth event, the Nexus²⁵ project convened researchers and practitioners for a roundtable in Brussels on November 15, 2022, to discuss the evolving role of the European Union (EU) and other multilateral actors in times of transnational and multidimensional crises. Previous meetings were held at the Munich Security Conference, on the sidelines of the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, and over a two-day conference in Rome, and focused on addressing key questions about the nexus approach to complex crises.

The closed-door conversation, moderated by IAI Director Nathalie Tocci and Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Michael Werz, provided a platform for EU officials, representatives from international organizations and civil society, and the Brussels think tank community to discuss the future of multilateral engagement against the backdrop of worsening climate crises, severe food shortages, growing challenges to sustainable energy, unprecedented levels of displacement, and protracted conflicts globally. In reflecting on how to best address these challenges, the conversation took stock of positive developments following COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis, and their potential for reinvigorating multilateral cooperation, both at the EU-level and within the wider scope of multilateral governance.