In many ways, awarding the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’ to a film called Everything Everywhere All At Once was an apt assessment of the broader international political context in 2022–2023. Crises seem to have erupted from every direction, demanding policymaker and scholarly attention to navigate the current world disorder. How do we respond to a changing world order? How do we counter the immediate threats while not losing sight of the ever-growing threats posed by climate change and political challenges to democracy, pandemics, economic stability and the barriers to movement of goods and people that have underpinned the past decades of a globalised international community? How do we resolve the geopolitical upheaval brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022? How do we integrate and exploit technological advances like artificial intelligence without deepening socioeconomic inequalities, and without further compromising international security? Responding to just one of these challenges would require significant political will and expert knowledge and yet, they are occurring everywhere all at once.
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