The global rulebook is being rewritten, and the Global South is holding the pen.

In this episode of Global Southing, we speak with Dr. Serhat Suha Cubukcuoglu, Head of the Trends Research and Advisory Office in Turkey, about Policy Power Rising: How Global South Writes Its Own Rules and how this shift is changing the way global decisions are made.

With expertise across policymaking, geopolitics, maritime affairs, and energy, Dr. Cubukcuoglu shares how countries across the Global South are building leverage through new partnerships, regional blocs, trade corridors, and alternative financial pathways, while navigating competing interests and real-world constraints.

Through clear examples and grounded analysis, he explains how rule-setting is moving beyond legacy institutions into practical cooperation, economic strategy, and digital governance, and what this means for middle powers, emerging alliances, and the next phase of the global order.

Tune in to learn:
→ Why “collective policymaking” is gaining momentum across emerging markets
→ What BRICS+ signals, and where its influence is real vs overstated
→ How alternative finance and local currency trade are changing the options on the table
→ The role of trade corridors, logistics, and resource diplomacy in modern power
→ Why middle powers are becoming key conveners in a multipolar world
→ Where South-South cooperation works, and where it gets complicated
→ Why digital governance, data sovereignty, and AI ethics are becoming the next battleground
→ What to watch next as global norms evolve

⏱️ Key Moments
00:00 Opening and episode setup
01:05 Introducing Dr. Serhat and the core question of rule-setting
03:10 What “Global South” means in today’s policy context
05:45 BRICS+ and the push for more agency in global systems
08:20 Alternative finance, NDB, and the rise of parallel options
11:10 Trade corridors and why geography is strategic again
14:30 South-South cooperation, coordination, and friction points
18:40 Middle powers and strategic autonomy, including the UAE’s role
23:10 Digital sovereignty, data governance, and policy choices
31:20 AI, ethics, and the next global standards conversation

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Follow the guest
Dr. Serhat Suha Cubukcuoglu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scubukcuoglu/
Trends Research and Advisory Office: https://trendsresearch.org/