"Dialogue for the Future – 2025": Key Role of BRICS and New Contours of Global Governance
From December 5 to 9, 2025, the research and educational programme "Dialogue for the Future – 2025," organised by the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, was held in Moscow. Over five days, young researchers and experts from various countries discussed pivotal issues on the contemporary international agenda: the self-organisation of the Global Majority, regulation of artificial intelligence, the UN reform, and the transformation of global governance.
The programme featured lectures, thematic discussions, project sessions, meetings with representatives of Russian state agencies, and a visit to the Victory Museum. Participants not only engaged with leading specialists but also presented their own initiatives aimed at strengthening international dialogue.
An important part of the event was the discussion "UN Reform in the Interests of the Majority," which featured Victoria Panova, Head of the BRICS Expert Council-Russia, Vice Rector at HSE University, and Sherpa of Russia in the Women 20 (W20). Her presentation made a significant analytical contribution to the debate, focusing participants’ attention on key issues of Global Majority representation and the role of BRICS in reshaping the global architecture.
Victoria Panova stressed that the demand from developing nations for a more equitable voice in global governance is stronger than ever. The UN structure, established after World War II, is increasingly misaligned with 21st-century realities, and reforming the Security Council while elevating the role of the Global South remain essential to the legitimacy of this institution. She noted that the BRICS countries, owing to their economic and political momentum, have a unique opportunity to champion new approaches to global governance that respect the interests of a broad range of states.
Particular emphasis was placed on staffing imbalances within the UN Secretariat, which Victoria Panova described as a systemic barrier to meaningful reform. Cited data on the overrepresentation of staff from developed countries and the underrepresentation of employees from Asia, Africa, and Latin America demonstrate, in her view, a deep institutional inequity within the UN. As long as this disparity persists, true equality in decision-making cannot be achieved—making it a crucial item for the reform agenda.
In closing, the HSE Vice Rector underscored that UN reform requires consensus among the five permanent members of the Security Council—an exceedingly difficult condition amid current international tensions. Nevertheless, the formal emergence of a "Global Majority" and the growing strength of BRICS make reform an inevitable long-term necessity, transforming it from an abstract idea into a structural imperative.
"Dialogue for the Future – 2025" reaffirmed its role as a vital platform that brings together young professionals and seasoned experts to discuss fundamental shifts in global politics. The programme illustrated a rising interest among the new generation in issues of global governance, the role of Global Majority nations, and the pursuit of a more equitable international order.