The final Tuesday Talks speaker of Michaelmas Term 2025 was Sam Gyimah, an Oxford PPE graduate and former Government minister and MP. Sam now sits on the boards of Oxford University Innovation and Goldman Sachs International and hosts a successful podcast.
Globalisation feels broken
Sam began by arguing that many people around the world feel globalisation is no longer working for them. Fragmentation and nationalism didn’t start with the pandemic, although we can argue that they intensified during and after that period. They have been building for years.
In this, he echoed a point made earlier in the year at Reuben by his former Government colleague Lord Hague, the University Chancellor: today’s Western political ruptures aren’t temporary shocks, but symptoms of deeper, lasting issues.
Capital is coming with conditions
Because of this, governments are now shaping markets more directly than at any point in recent decades. Political risk has become a core business issue, especially for industries seen as strategic. Sam gave the example of GPS, controlled by the U.S. government, and the EU’s long struggle to develop Galileo (a global navigation satellite system). Even “everyday” technologies, he highlighted, have become politically important. Ten years ago, it was easy to tap into global capital; today, there’s more political and commercial sensitivity about where that capital comes from.
Unlike during the Cold War, the world is no longer divided into neat blocs. Spheres of influence blur, and alliances are more transactional. Countries choose partners by issue, guided more by self-interest than by ideology. Businesses act similarly, which is why so many global CEOs now spend significant time in Washington. We were asked to think about what these conditions mean for low- and middle-income countries. If they are left without choice or voice, global stability may be hard to attain.
Can we avoid international fragmentation?
Sam also asked us to consider if today’s rising international fragmentation is unavoidable. What could prevent further splintering of the international community?
My table’s discussion reached this question after first mulling over whether AI was really the ground-breaking innovation many perceive it to be, whether AI can understand the concept of love, and how best to hide from killer robots.
After a lively Q&A session (and despite the sobering picture painted in the talk and tableside discussions), Sam ended on an optimistic note. Frontier technologies, particularly AI, may be caught up in political crosswinds, but they also open space for innovation. Periods of flux, he argued, often make room for new ideas and industries. Influence still flows through three channels: government, capital and social action.
Those who can operate across these areas will be best placed to navigate this new world.
