ISAS Special Reports

ISAS, in collaboration with the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, convened an online roundtable in October 2025 on humanitarianism, development assistance, early warning and political violence in South Asia within a post-liberal international order. The participants noted the limitations of current predictive tools and called for hybrid approaches that combine qualitative and quantitative methods. They emphasised that despite technological advances, gaps in implementation persist, requiring improved transparency, data sharing and coordination, alongside a more anticipatory and cooperative global framework for effective humanitarian action.

Drawing on these discussions, this report examines how intersecting global crises – such as conflict, economic instability and climate change – are reshaping humanitarian action and early warning systems in South Asia and the broader Global South. It finds that overlapping challenges are straining the capacity of states and international institutions, particularly amid a weakening liberal international order characterised by reduced multilateral cooperation, politicisation of aid and shifting global priorities.