The 12th edition of the Atlantic Dialogues took place on 11, 12 and 13 December 2025 in Rabat, Morocco. The forum was organised by the Policy Center for the New South, a strategic partner of IPDAL, and brought together political leaders, academics and civil society representatives from across the Atlantic space to discuss the main challenges shaping the contemporary international order.
Gastón Ocampo, Secretary-General of IPDAL, took part in the panel “The Wider Atlantic: Building Partnerships in an Era of Instability”, held in the context of the launch of the 12th edition of the Atlantic Currents report. The session highlighted the key trends reshaping the Wider Atlantic, namely geopolitical fragmentation, energy transitions and persistent regional asymmetries, underlining the urgency of building new political, economic and institutional bridges between Africa, Europe and the Americas in a context of growing instability and strategic competition.
On the first day, the plenary session “Can Democracy Deliver in a Post-Trust World?” featured an intervention by Suzi Barboza, a member of IPDAL’s Advisory Board. The debate focused on the multiple challenges facing democracies in a context of overlapping crises, marked by the erosion of trust in institutions and political leaders. Factors such as rising economic inequalities, political polarisation and the spread of disinformation were analysed, highlighting their role in weakening perceptions of democratic systems’ ability to ensure stability and legitimacy. The session sought to identify pathways for democratic renewal, with particular emphasis on institutional resilience, governance innovation, strengthened civic participation and social responsibility, while questioning the extent to which democracy can reinvent itself as a more inclusive, transparent and responsive model to citizens’ expectations, also benefiting from international cooperation.
In turn, Carmenza Jaramillo, President of IPDAL’s Advisory Board, participated in Plenary VIII – “America First, Negotiation Room for Others?”, part of the opening session. The panel examined how the America First policy, central during the Trump administration, reshaped US foreign and domestic policy, with profound and wide-ranging impacts on the international order. The discussion addressed the implications of this approach for traditional alliances, trade agreements, official development assistance, migration policies, climate negotiations and the governance of artificial intelligence. Beyond challenging established diplomatic norms and affecting the credibility of US leadership, the debate underlined that this policy prompted other countries to reassess their engagement strategies with the United States, creating opportunities for adaptation, experimentation and the assertion of alternative spaces for negotiation and influence in the international system.
IPDAL’s strong presence at the Atlantic Dialogues 2025 reinforces the Institute’s commitment to promoting international dialogue, bridge-building and multilateral cooperation across the Atlantic space, as well as strengthening its strategic alliance with the Policy Center for the New South.
