Global affairs explores the political, economic, cultural, and environmental issues of our increasingly interdependent world. It includes study of broad issues such as war, genocide, terrorism, poverty, and climate change, along with the processes that create them. This interdisciplinary major helps students develop a sophisticated understanding of global issues while gaining skills to address the complex problems that our world faces today.

As 2025 begins, our experts are hopeful but clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. From a continuing war in Syria to supply chain vulnerabilities, these trends are expected to have significant impact on international relations and business operations.

Since the end of World War II, the world has experienced a series of challenges to what’s known as the “rules-based international order,” or RBIO. These have included dissatisfaction with the status quo, particularly in the form of revisionist states like China and Russia, and calls for its collapse or revitalization. However, these attempts have never proven powerful enough to destroy the system.

In fact, these challenges have only strengthened the RBIO and made it more resilient. Last year the UN negotiated and adopted the first-of-its-kind international agreement called the Pact for the Future, outlining steps to upgrade multilateralism for the modern age. As the global economy continues to evolve, the challenge will be for leaders to put aside diverging national politics and geopolitical tensions to tackle global problems in a coordinated manner.