Brazil Week Opening Event: Subnational Governments and the Global South - The Rise of New Players in a Changing Geopolitical Order

23 June 2025 17:00 to 19:00

23Jun

Join the King's Brazil Institute for the opening event of this year's Brazil Week featuring an evening of conversations about Brazil, and new powers place in a new global order.

Much of the world's rules have been set by Western countries. Until fairly recently, climate agreements, peace deals, and nuclear or financial meetings were held exclusively by nation-states, often those belonging to the OECD or G7. However, in recent years, new institutions have begun to challenge this global order. Initiatives such as IBSA, along with the hosting of major international events— in the case of Brazil this has included hosting the G20 and Climate summits—helped reshaping global governance.

On a sub-national level, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the absence of national-led policies to combat the virus led governors and mayors to take the lead in the response in Brazil. Similarly, in preparation for climate summits, cities have launched independent campaigns to influence environmental policies, with the Amazon Summit of Local Governments taking place as early as 2009.

Join us for an evening of conversations about Brazil, and new powers place in a new global order:

We will start the evening with an opening address by Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos, Director of King's Brazil Institute (10 minutes).
The UK embassy in Brazil and the Brazilian Embassy in the UK will address the audience celebrating 200 years of Brazil-UK relations (10 minutes).
Our Keynote address will then be given by Dr Anit Mukherjee (30 minutes) with opportunity for a Q&A afterwards.

This event will be followed by a drinks reception. The reception will also feature a photo exhibition coordinated by Professor Andrea Cornwall and sponsored by the King’s Global Cultures Institute.

About the speakers

Dr Anit Mukherjee

Dr Anit Mukherjee is a Senior Fellow at the ORF America where he leads the program on global economics and development policy. Dr Mukherjee graduated in economics and politics from Presidency University, Kolkata, completed his MA in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and holds a PhD in Policy and Planning Sciences from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. His academic work has been published in leading journals such as Nature, Conservation Letters, Agricultural Economics and Journal of Asian Economics. He is the co-author of Social Sector in a Decentralized Economy: India in the Era of Globalization published by Cambridge University Press in 2016 and has contributed papers in several edited volumes on economic growth and development. Originally from India, Dr Mukherjee has lived and worked in Japan, Brazil, Yemen and Sri Lanka. He is an avid traveler and speaks seven languages.

Tony Kay

Tony Kay is a career British diplomat who has served in Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, Canada and across North Africa and the Middle East. His previous role was Deputy Director for the Middle east in the FCDO, focussed on the Gulf Cooperation Council. His last overseas role was Deputy Ambassador to Israel. Tony will shortly take up his next posting as Deputy Ambassador to Brazil. He has extensive crisis response experience, most acutely as Consular Regional Director to the Middle East in 2009-2012, covering the Arab Spring. Tony helped to coordinate evacuations from Yemen, Libya, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Bahrain, work for which he received an OBE. Tony has just completed a Masters Degree at King’s College London on Global Strategy and Security, and is a visiting professor at Chichester University.

Tony will accompanied in Brazil by his partner Dehenna Davison, a former UK Member of Parliament and Minister, who is way cleverer than Tony, and in the school holidays by his fantastic kids Maia and Luca, who are also way smarter than him. Tony’s hobbies are cooking, eating, travelling, and enduring watching Manchester United. He also collects shoes.

Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos

Andreza is Director of the King's Brazil Institute. She completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, and holds a master’s degree in social sciences jointly awarded by the University of Freiburg, JNU in Delhi, and the University of KwaZulu Natal, in Durban. Andreza completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Brasilia. Having studied in Brazil, Germany, South Africa, India and the UK, Andreza writes about Brazilian politics and city governance comparatively. Before joining King's, she was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and at Oxford she directed the Brazilian Studies Programme (2018-2023). Before that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford’s School of Anthropology, where she worked at the Urban Transformations portfolio (ESRC). She has previously worked at Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development, the United Nations Office on Drugs.

Professor Andrea Cornwall

Professor Andrea Cornwall is a social anthropologist by training. She works on questions of rights and justice in relation to gender, sexuality, participation, democracy and development.

About King's Brazil Week

Hosted by the King's Brazil Institute, King’s Brazil Week is an annual celebration of all things Brazilian.

During Brazil Week 2025, we discuss the emergence of new institutional frameworks and leadership models. When traditional powers lean toward authoritarianism, can cities and the Global South take the lead in securing effective global governance?