There is cautious optimism that ‘a majority of multilateralists’ may be able to enduringly reshape the world order

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Brazil’s ambassador to London, had no difficulty joining the dystopians describing the modern world in a recent speech, a world suffering from “global warming and environmental degradation, multiple conflicts, rising military budgets, disregard for international law and international humanitarian law, disruptions to trade, erosion of democratic governance and technological developments that are met with excitement and fear”.

Yet beneath the surface, he said, “something is happening. Something is moving.”