The United Kingdom is set to take over the G20 presidency from the United States in December 2026. This follows a period of limited international cooperation and increased tensions under U.S. leadership. The global situation has changed significantly since the UK last hosted the G20 in 2009, when it led a coordinated response to the 2008 financial crisis, helping to mobilize over $1 trillion to support economic recovery worldwide. Today, the world is facing the highest number of armed conflicts since 1946, with growing competition in trade, technology, energy, and finance. These areas present challenges that no single country can address alone, despite the weakening of the previous global order. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged middle powers to collaborate in response to efforts by major nations like the U.S. and China to use economic integration, trade policies, financial systems, and supply chains as tools of influence. In response to these dynamics, the European Union has proposed deeper collaboration with Canada, offering it associate membership and working together on technology, critical minerals, energy, and defense. These developments reflect a growing trend of countries forming flexible partnerships based on shared risks and capabilities, rather than waiting for global consensus. This model could provide a blueprint for the G20’s future. The UK now has a unique opportunity to redefine international leadership in a more fragmented world. Rather than relying solely on formal declarations, G20 leadership will be judged by its ability to adapt governance to the realities of shared risks and to show that collective action remains possible even in a divided world. A proposed approach involves a three-tier strategy: pushing for consensus where broad support is achievable, seeking agreement where a majority is ready to act, and forming open, issue-specific coalitions when neither of those options works. This approach starts by identifying the problem and the desired outcome, then determining which countries, institutions, and communities have the capacity to achieve that goal. For example, in addressing sovereign debt, progress does not require the involvement of all G20 members, but rather cooperation between the debtor country, its creditors, multilateral lenders, and relevant financial institutions. The necessary coalition will vary depending on the issue—whether it’s food security, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, or resilient supply chains. To support this new approach, the University College London’s Institute for Global Prosperity has developed a framework called The New Alignment. This initiative aims to build the infrastructure needed for deep cross-border collaboration, bringing together universities, think tanks, research institutions, civil society, businesses, and practitioner networks from around the world. Working groups under The New Alignment can help shape policies and test proposals, providing the collaborative engine for the UK’s G20 presidency. This framework also aims to make the Think20 process—where think tanks and research institutions engage with the G20—more effective, turning ideas into real-world actions. With this infrastructure in place, the UK’s G20 presidency can go beyond selecting the right themes and priorities to fundamentally change how the G20 operates. Success will be measured not just by the number of agreements reached, but by the coalitions formed, the resources mobilized, and the policies implemented at every level of society.