The Hedgers: How Global South Middle Powers Are Shaping the Current Global Order Transition

The extreme instability caused by the interminable war in Ukraine, Sino-American tensions, and Trump's return to power raises an essential question: how can the countries of the Global South, particularly those endowed with significant resources and national ambitions, navigate the waters of this turbulent global ocean? Will they end up succumbing to the logic of bipolarity or will they escape from it by amplifying their hedging power and making the international system more multipolar in the process? To answer this essential question, Zaki Laidi and Yves Tiberghien’s new book analyzes the strategic behavior of eight states: India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa and finally Brazil. The analysis is also relevant for a series of other Global South middle players, including Malaysia and Thailand. Laidi and Tiberghien refer to those states as strategic Hedgers. This talk analyzes the strategic behavior of Hedgers over the last decade in the area of geopolitics and geoeconomics. It explores the roots of their rising hedging power and the impact that they are collectively having on the current global order transition, as well as risks involved. The talk concludes with an evaluation of strategies deployed in response to the Trump 2.0 disruption, arguing that the new American assault on global rules and institutions has only increased incentives for hedging. Speaker: Yves Tiberghien (Ph.D. Stanford University, 2002; Harvard Academy Scholar; Fulbright Scholar) is Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science, at National Tsinghua University. Yves is also a Professor of Political Science, Konwakai Chair in Japanese Research, and Director of the Center for Japanese Research (on leave of absence) at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on the global order, the comparative political economy of East Asia, and global economic and environmental governance. His latest books are titled The Hedgers: How The Global South Navigates the Sino-American Competition (2026, Cambridge University Press Element Series, co-authored with Zaki Laïdi from Sciences Po Paris); and the Global Economic Order on the Brink (co-edited book with Shiro Armstrong), Canberra: ANU Press, August 2026. Refreshements will be provided at the event.