Global Governance Reimagined

Global Governance Reimagined

 

Global
Governance
Reimagined

Reforming Debt, Development, and Decision-Making in a Shifting World Order

 

 

 

Against the backdrop of growing global fragmentation and conflict, the international community faces a range of urgent, intertwined challenges requiring collaborative and creative action. All too many developing nations face sky-high debt levels that are preventing them from making the long-term investments they need to achieve sustainable development and equitable growth, with many nations paying more to service their high-interest-rate debt than to fund public health and education. Foreign aid from a range of leading donors is declining precipitously, threatening decades of development progress while undermining critical climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. All the while, the international institutions tasked with finding consensus about how to address these interconnected challenges are proving increasingly unable to do so effectively, leaving gaps in global governance.

With an eye toward identifying innovative solutions that elevate the leadership of historically underrepresented communities and changemakers from developing regions, FP Analytics—the independent research division of The FP Group—launched Global Governance Reimagined: Reforming Debt, Development, and Decision-Making in a Shifting World Order, with support from the Ford Foundation. This multicomponent project delves into some of the most critical issues at the forefront of transforming global governance and driving equitable development.

Part 1 on debt architecture was published in June 2025, coinciding with the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain. Part 2 on development aid will be published in September 2025, coinciding with the opening of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. Part 3 on international financial institutions reform will be published in October 2025 alongside the World Bank/IMF annual meetings. Each part of the project will consist of timely analysis from FP Analytics published alongside contributions from global experts and community-based leaders who are reimagining and stewarding global governance.

Global
Governance
Reimagined

Reforming Debt, Development, and Decision-Making in a Shifting World Order

Against the backdrop of growing global fragmentation and conflict, the international community faces a range of urgent, intertwined challenges requiring collaborative and creative action. All too many developing nations face sky-high debt levels that are preventing them from making the long-term investments they need to achieve sustainable development and equitable growth, with many nations paying more to service their high-interest-rate debt than to fund public health and education. Foreign aid from a range of leading donors is declining precipitously, threatening decades of development progress while undermining critical climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. All the while, the international institutions tasked with finding consensus about how to address these interconnected challenges are proving increasingly unable to do so effectively, leaving gaps in global governance.

With an eye toward identifying innovative solutions that elevate the leadership of historically underrepresented communities and changemakers from developing regions, FP Analytics—the independent research division of The FP Group—launched Global Governance Reimagined: Reforming Debt, Development, and Decision-Making in a Shifting World Order, with support from the Ford Foundation. This multicomponent project delves into some of the most critical issues at the forefront of transforming global governance and driving equitable development.

Part 1 on debt architecture will be published in June 2025, coinciding with the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain. Part 2 on development aid will be published in September 2025, coinciding with the opening of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. Part 3 on international financial institutions reform will be published in October 2025 alongside the World Bank/IMF annual meetings. Each part of the project will consist of timely analysis from FP Analytics published alongside contributions from global experts and community-based leaders who are reimagining and stewarding global governance.

JUNE 2025

Debt Architecture

Low- and middle-income countries are facing the worst debt crisis in history, spending large shares of their national budgets on ballooning debt service payments, while a range of development priorities—from gender equality and environmental conservation to public health and poverty alleviation—remain underfunded. Part 1 of Global Governance Reimagined takes stock of the historic debt-development crisis and analyzes approaches to long-term debt and governance reforms to effectuate lasting change.

An FP ANALYTICS Issue Brief

Drowning in Debt

Strategies to Overcome the Debt-Development Crisis

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Heavy sovereign debt burdens and crippling interest rates threaten the progress of LMICs toward sustainable development targets

Reimagining global governance to avoid future debt crises can drive prosperity and well-being, and support dignified livelihoods for all

Looking Ahead

 

Why a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Global Debt Doesn’t Work

Debt Strategies Should Integrate Climate and Match Country Contexts

A Q&A with VERA SONGWE, Chair and founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and co-chair of the Independent High-Level Expert Panel on Climate Finance

Tackling the Global Debt Crisis

Proposed Solutions Must Be Politically Feasible, Quick to Implement

A Q&A with MAHMOUD MOHIELDIN, the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

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COMING SEPTEMBER 2025

Development Aid

The decline in foreign aid from major donors threatens progress at a crucial moment for sustainable development globally. Part 2 of Global Governance Reimagined will examine the impacts of declining official development assistance and highlight mechanisms for moving beyond aid to support decent livelihoods worldwide, especially in marginalized and underserved communities.

COMING OCTOBER 2025

International Financial
Institutions Reform

Global multilateral institutions have a critical role to play in enabling sustainable development, eradicating inequality, and safeguarding against climate change and other complex challenges. Part 3 of Global Governance Reimagined will analyze the urgent reforms to international financial institutions needed to make global governance more effective and equitable. 

Global Governance Reimagined

This special report from FP Analytics, the independent research division of The FP Group, was produced with support from The Ford Foundation. FP Analytics retained control of the research direction and findings of this report. Foreign Policy’s editorial team was not involved in the creation of this content.

Ford Foundation