Multilateralism May 2025-

2025 G7 Kananaskis Summit

Spring Meetings 2025 Preamble: geopolitical turmoil further muddies path of BWI reform and multilateral cooperation
A US executive order reviewing membership in global institutions casts doubt over future US policies at the World Bank and IMF
Despite ongoing reviews and reforms, civil society expects little transformative change at the BWIs
With economic and geopolitical uncertainty rising, civil society looks to FfD4 to chart a new path for multilateralism —Bretton Woods Project 17 April 2025

15-18/19 September
(AI Overview) The 20th East Asia Summit (EAS) will be held in in Jakarta, Indonesia and mark its 20th anniversary. The summit, a leaders-led forum, will focus on strategic, political, and economic cooperation in East Asia, aiming to promote peace, stability, and prosperity. The ASEAN Foundation will also host a special edition of its Model ASEAN Meeting (AFMAM) to commemorate the anniversary, coinciding with the summit.

6-7 July
17th BRICS Summit
As the Chair of BRICS, Brazil is focusing on the theme, ‘Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’.
(AI Overview) The 17th BRICS Summit will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6-7, 2025. Brazil assumed the BRICS presidency on January 1, 2025, with a focus on global governance reform and cooperation among Global South countries. The summit will address key areas like global health, trade, climate change, and AI governance

30 June-3 July
4th International Conference on Financing for Development
Sevilla, Spain
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) provides a unique opportunity to reform financing at all levels, including to support reform of the international financial architecture and addressing financing challenges preventing the urgently needed investment push for the SDGs. FFD4 Conference will be held in FIBES Sevilla Exhibition and Conference Centre.
The International Conferences on Financing for Development are the only space where leaders from all governments, along with international and regional organizations, financial and trade institutions, businesses, civil society and the UN System unite at the highest levels, fostering stronger international cooperation.

Denmark is stepping into the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, inheriting a dense legislative agenda and high political expectations for the second half of 2025.

24-25 June
2025 NATO Summit in The Hague
Key topics on the agenda
At the summit, NATO Leaders will address a variety of issues facing the Alliance. They will focus on deterrence and defence, ensuring that NATO has the resources, forces and capabilities to face any threat.
NATO clinches defense spending deal in big win for Trump
Leaders signed off on a new 5 percent of GDP defense spending target by 2035.
(Politico) NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to unleash an avalanche of new defense spending in a show of unity aimed at keeping U.S. President Donald Trump on board and Russian leader Vladimir Putin at bay.
The trick to getting there? Handing Trump what he called “a great victory.”
In a carefully stage-managed summit built around brevity and predictability, leaders signed off on a new 5 percent of gross domestic product defense spending target by 2035. That will be made up of 3.5 percent of GDP for “hard” capabilities like weapons and troops, and 1.5 percent for defense-adjacent investments such as cyber and mobility.
[Secretary-General Mark] Rutte made a point of flattering Trump, praising him for pressing other countries to boost their defense spending and underscoring his commitment to the alliance.
Rutte even called Trump the “daddy” for intervening in the fighting between Israel and Iran.
NATO Confronts Its Doomsday Scenario
The last thing the world wants to contemplate in the wake of the US-Iran military showdown is a Russian attack on NATO.
(Bloomberg) A Russian assault remains unlikely in the near term. The Kremlin doesn’t want to fight on two fronts, and more than three years into its war on Ukraine it lacks the capacity to take on the bloc. That doesn’t mean it’s beyond Moscow’s vision for the future.
President Vladimir Putin denies he has any such plans, though he said the same before Russia invaded Ukraine. He has made clear he seeks to reclaim what he views as historically Russian territory.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — NATO frontline members — were once directly administered by the Soviet Union and are home to large Russian minority populations.

How Canada Can Help Shape the NATO of Tomorrow
by Kerry Buck
(Policy) The upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague June 24-25 will be [Prime Minister Mark Carney’s] first. And it will be one of the most consequential and fraught meetings of the Alliance since NATO began in 1949.
… Trump 2.0 is much higher-risk for NATO than Trump’s first term. All is not ‘doom and gloom’: after a series of worrisome messages from the American Vice President and Secretary of Defence that Europe should not rely on the US backstop, the administration has recently signaled it will not abandon NATO.
But there are still high-risk scenarios that could unfold: Trump could once again change his position on NATO. … Or, the summit could see a weakening of American support for Ukraine: there is a risk that Trump might be swayed in this direction by a tactically-timed gesture from Vladimir Putin just before the NATO Summit. There is also a likelihood that President Trump’s pointed support for Putin before his early departure from the Kananaskis G7 will have an impact on the NATO Summit decisions on support for Ukraine. Or, the review of US global troop posture later this year could result in a significant reduction of US presence in Europe at a time when European forces could not lead a sustained defence on land, air or sea. …

23 June
Canada-EU Summit 2025: A Next-Level Strategic Partnership
By Mark Camilleri
On June 23rd, leaders from Canada and the European Union will meet in Brussels. This meeting, wedged between the higher-profile G7 and NATO summits taking place only a week apart, is unlikely to be the routine, stock-taking exercise that has defined many bilateral summits in recent years. In fact, it is shaping up to be the most consequential Canada-EU leaders’ meeting since the 2009 Prague Summit, when negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) were launched.

18-21 June
Angola to Host ATIDI’s 25th Annual General Meeting as Africa’s Multilateral Insurer Marks 25 years of Impact
The African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) is set to hold its 25th Annual General Meeting (AGM) from 18–21 June 2025 in Luanda, Angola, under the theme “Turning Risk into Opportunity, Securing a Sustainable Future.”

26-27 May
46th ASEAN Summit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Chairman’s Statement of the 46th ASEAN Summit
(AI Overview) The 46th ASEAN Summit took place…under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability”. The summit focused on ASEAN’s centrality and economic integration, with leaders adopting a 20-year roadmap called the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future. Key discussions included strengthening intra-ASEAN trade, exploring new growth areas like the digital and green economies, and expanding ASEAN’s engagement with external partners, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China.