Who will benefit from the global race for critical minerals? And can resource-rich countries use today's geopolitical shifts to achieve a more just and sustainable model of development?

In the third episode of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series, hosts Anamaria Copilau and Werner Raza are joined by José Miguel Ahumada, political economist at the University of Chile and former Vice Minister for Trade of Chile, to explore what the New International Economic Order (NIEO) can teach us about the politics of natural resources in the 21st century.

As demand for lithium, rare earths, and other critical minerals continues to grow, countries in the Global South face a historic opportunity - but also familiar challenges. Can they move beyond exporting raw materials? How can resource wealth support industrialization, technological upgrading, and long-term development? And what role should the state play in managing strategic resources?

The conversation revisits the NIEO's vision of resource sovereignty and examines its relevance for today's global economy. It explores how commodity dependence, financialized markets, multinational corporations, and geopolitical competition continue to shape development prospects across Latin America and beyond.

Among the questions discussed in this episode:

🔹What lessons does the NIEO offer for today's critical minerals boom?
🔹Can countries leverage lithium and other strategic resources to negotiate fairer terms in the global economy?
🔹Why do industrial policy and technology transfer remain central to development?
🔹What role should the state play alongside multinational corporations?
🔹Can regional cooperation strengthen the bargaining power of resource-rich countries?
🔹How can economic development, environmental protection, and the rights of local communities be reconciled?
🔹What do China's investment strategies reveal about the changing landscape of global development?

Guest: José Miguel Ahumada (University of Chile; former Vice Minister for Trade of Chile)

📍Episode 3 of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series: Lessons from the New International Economic Order

📌 Learn more about the Vienna Global Forum: www.viennaglobalforum.org

How can the global trading system become fairer? And what can today's debates learn from the ambitious vision of the New International Economic Order (NIEO)?

In this second episode of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series, hosts Anamaria Copilau and Werner Raza are joined by Richard Kozul-Wright, former Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at UNCTAD, to explore the history, politics, and future of global trade governance.

The conversation traces the evolution of the post-war trading system - from the failed International Trade Organization (ITO) and the GATT to the WTO - and examines why many countries in the Global South viewed the system as structurally unequal. Together, they revisit the rise of UNCTAD, the ambitions of the NIEO, and the struggle to reshape international trade in the interests of development.

The discussion also addresses some of today's most pressing questions:

🔹Why has structural inequality in global trade persisted?
🔹What role did UNCTAD play in giving the Global South a stronger voice?
🔹Why did the NIEO ultimately lose momentum?
🔹How has neoliberalism reshaped global economic governance?
🔹What reforms are needed to create a more inclusive international trading system?
🔹Should we reform existing institutions - or build new ones?

Drawing on decades of experience in international economic policy, Richard Kozul-Wright reflects on policy space, industrial policy, multilateralism, South–South cooperation, and China's growing role in shaping the future of global governance.

Guest: Richard Kozul-Wright (SOAS University of London; former UNCTAD Director of Globalization and Development Strategies)

📍Episode 2 of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series: Lessons from the New International Economic Order

📌 Learn more about the Vienna Global Forum: www.viennaglobalforum.org

What can the forgotten debate on a New International Economic Order (NIEO) teach us about today's world?

In this first episode of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series, renowned scholars Vijay Prashad and Paul Stubbs revisit the ambitious project of the New International Economic Order (NIEO) - a vision developed by countries of the Global South in the 1970s to create a fairer and more democratic global economy.

Together with hosts Anamaria Copilau and Werner Raza, they explore:

🔹 The historical origins of the NIEO and the Non-Aligned Movement
🔹 Why newly independent countries demanded economic sovereignty
🔹 The role of multinational corporations and global power structures
🔹 How neoliberalism emerged and displaced the NIEO agenda
🔹 What today's debates on BRICS, multipolarity, development, and global justice can learn from this history

As the global balance of power shifts and new economic institutions emerge, many of the questions raised by the NIEO remain strikingly relevant. Was the project defeated - or are its ideas returning in a new form?

Guests:
• Vijay Prashad – Executive Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
• Paul Stubbs – Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Economics Zagreb

📍 Episode 1 of the Vienna Global Forum podcast series: Lessons from the New International Economic Order

📌 Learn more about the Vienna Global Forum: www.viennaglobalforum.org

📌 Watch the Video-Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPk8pWceHWE