The Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organised a roundtable discussion titled “Global Trends 2026” on Monday, bringing together leading experts to assess the multidimensional changes shaping the world.
In his opening remarks, BIPSS President Maj Gen (retd) Muniruzzaman said that the world has entered an era of rapid and multidimensional change, with economic systems, trade relations, technology, environmental stability, and global security dynamics evolving simultaneously at unprecedented speed.
He emphasised that Bangladesh, as an emerging middle power, must understand these complex shifts, noting that climate change and environmental pressures are immediate realities impacting economies, supply chains, public health, and political stability.
He also pointed to geopolitical realignments, protectionism, and conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine as pressing challenges requiring deeper analysis.
Saima Ahmed, assistant professor of International Relations at Dhaka University highlighted a growing shift in global relations toward narrow national interests. She also warned that major powers are increasingly acting unilaterally and coercively, often undermining multilateral institutions. This signals a return to realist power politics, with fragmented governance structures and declining trust in the rules-based order, she cautioned.
For the Global South, she argued, this demands caution, adaptability, and strategic repositioning, she added.
Parvez Karim Abbasi, assistant professor of Economics at East West University and executive director of the Centre for Governance Studies, said that global competition is increasingly shaped by electrification, digitalisation, and decarbonisation.
He stressed that access to strategic minerals such as lithium, copper, and rare earth elements is becoming central to economic and geopolitical influence. While digital infrastructure can be built quickly, mineral extraction requires decades, creating supply constraints that heighten competition, he said.
He also pointed to financial fragmentation, alternative payment systems, and the securitisation of trade and energy, urging Bangladesh to maintain strategic autonomy and strengthen domestic resilience.
Shafqat Munir, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research (BCTR), provided an in-depth assessment of technology’s impact on global security, describing the emergence of a new “technological order” defined by blocs, digital infrastructure, and data governance. He warned that traditional security thinking is inadequate for 2026, as state-on-state conflict intensifies alongside hybrid warfare.
Highlighting the shift from generative to agentic AI, Munir, also senior research fellow at BIPSS, cautioned that AI systems now execute actions affecting governance and security, accelerating disinformation and eroding trust.
He also warned of AI-enabled terrorism ranging from drone warfare and automated radicalisation to cryptocurrency-based financing and 3D-printed weapons, while linking these technological threats with climate challenges that reinforce global fragmentation.
The roundtable featured lively discussion among participants from diplomatic, academic, and security communities. Key priorities identified for Bangladesh included maintaining strategic autonomy amid great-power rivalry, developing a comprehensive national security framework that integrates technology and climate threats, and strengthening institutional and technological capacity.
In his concluding remarks, BIPSS President Muniruzzaman observed, “The future is not something that simply happens to us; it is something we help to create and shape. By sharing knowledge, building partnerships, and thinking boldly, we can contribute to a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable world.”
The session concluded with consensus that global integration has given way to fragmentation defined by transactionalism, sovereignty, and survival. The challenges of 2026 from geopolitical realignments and geo-economic competition to technological disruption and climate stress require proactive, informed, and agile national strategies.
