The world recorded 65 conflicts across 35 countries last year, the highest number since World War II. The figure was among the concerns raised by Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, Founder and Chairman of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), as he opened Global Town Hall 2026 on September 19.
According to Dino, the growing number of conflicts has come alongside a weakening respect for international rules and a greater reliance on force to determine outcomes.
“We feel the world is going in the wrong direction. Rules and international law are easily trampled.”
The statement opened the seventh edition of Global Town Hall, an Indonesian-initiated people-to-people forum that attracted more than 8,300 registered participants from over 120 countries this year.
Government leaders, civil society organisations, grassroots groups, private-sector representatives, and young changemakers joined the discussions, which examined how shifts in the global order are increasingly felt beyond diplomatic circles.
Conflict Puts Development Under Scrutiny
The concerns shaped this year's Global Town Hall theme, “Calling for a Global U-Turn: Recentering Development, Reclaiming Humanity, Restoring Justice in a Crazi(er) World.”
The idea of a “global U-turn” reflects a call to change the direction of international affairs by putting development, justice, and humanity back at the centre.
Dino said such a shift is not only about reducing conflict, but also about the kind of world people want to live in. He pointed to the desire for peace, opportunity, progress, and human dignity.
“This is why we need a U-turn in world affairs.”
The idea then connected with the question of development. For H.E. Micheál Martin, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, addressing poverty is essential because unequal development can deepen inequality while contributing to instability.
He also stressed that development needs to be inclusive, resilient, and environmentally sustainable, with its benefits distributed fairly.
“Development succeeds not when it is done for people. But when it is shaped with people.”
Palestine Puts International Law to Test
If development represents one side of the proposed “U-turn”, Palestine brings the discussion back to questions of justice and international law.
H.E. Dr. Varsen Aghbekian Shanin, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, said the question of Palestine now touches on the credibility of the international system itself.
“The question of Palestine has become a test of the credibility of the international system itself: whether international law is truly universal, whether justice is applied equally, and whether the rights of peoples can be protected when confronted by prolonged occupation, unlawful policies, and impunity.”
She also stressed that, for Palestinians, statehood is not simply a diplomatic aspiration waiting at the end of an uncertain political process.
The discussion therefore tied Palestine back to the broader question running through the forum: how consistently are the principles underpinning the international system being applied?
Two Fronts of the Global Debate
The questions raised at Global Town Hall extended beyond armed conflict and traditional foreign policy.
Participants also discussed how societies can navigate mass manipulation and deception, how far artificial intelligence should be allowed to develop, and whether North-South cooperation can be rebuilt.
Other conversations examined Palestinian statehood, development and the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of armaments in global priorities, and what kind of United Nations the world needs.
Taken together, the discussions reflected the forum's broader concern with a changing international order and the principles that should guide it.
With participants from more than 120 countries, Global Town Hall 2026 brought those questions into a single people-to-people forum, connecting perspectives that extend beyond governments and diplomatic institutions.
At the centre of it was the same question raised at the opening: if the world is moving further away from peace, development, justice, and human dignity, what would it take to change direction?
