The rules-based international order is under unprecedented stress. From escalating hostilities in the Middle East to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, the global balance of power is shifting. But are we simply heading toward intensified great power competition, or toward something else entirely?

We’re joined by Ionela Maria Ciolan, Research Officer in Foreign Policy, Security and Defence at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, to unpack the rise of transactional geopolitics, the decline of multilateralism, and the blurred lines between competition and cooperation.

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(00:00) - Introduction 

(03:48) - Great power competition today

(20:41) - The Axis of Upheaval 

(36:30) - The Fractured West – Strategic Drift and the Future of NATO