Dispute Resolution in a Geopolitical World | Annual Arbitration & ADR Conference | 14 October 2026
This year’s theme, “Dispute Resolution in a Geopolitical World”, reflects the profound transformation of the global disputes landscape. Heightened trade tensions, economic fragmentation, sanctions regimes, technological competition, armed conflict, and shifting geopolitical dynamics are reshaping cross border commerce. These developments are increasing the volume and complexity of disputes while testing the resilience, neutrality, and enforceability of arbitration and ADR mechanisms, particularly where conflict disrupts contracts, supply chains, and the rule of law.
Against this backdrop, the conference will examine how arbitration practitioners, institutions, businesses, and policymakers are responding to a more politicised and uncertain environment. It will explore how dispute resolution frameworks can remain effective, legitimate, and future ready in a rapidly evolving global order, while addressing the practical challenges facing users of arbitration across different sectors and jurisdictions.
Through thematic discussions and comparative regional perspectives, the conference will consider how the next generation of arbitration and ADR can adapt to geopolitical disruption while preserving its core values of independence, predictability, and trust.
Early bird tickets available now. Use code: : EARLYBIRD2026 for 20% the first 50 tickets. First come, first served.
Co-organiser: ICC Dispute Resolution Services
ICC United Kingdom will share the contacts with our co-organiser ICC Dispute Resolution Services for the purpose of providing event services. If you consent below, for the purpose of communicating information on ICC Arbitration and ADR:
I accept that ICC and its affiliates send me emails on Arbitration and ADR activities including reports, guidelines, events, trainings, and updates relating to ICC’s range of leading dispute resolution products and services, please complete the form and your preferences at: https://iccwbo.org/email-alert-signup/
If you wish that ICC sends you emails on Arbitration and ADR activities including reports, guidelines, events, trainings and updates relating to ICC’s range of leading dispute resolution products and services, we invite you to sign-up here and complete the form and your preferences.
Location:
Ernst & Young, 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF
Registration
Welcome remarks
- Guy Pendell, Partner, CMS, and Chair of ICC United Kingdom Arbitration and ADR Committee
- Ana Serra e Moura, Deputy Secretary General, ICC International Court of Arbitration
- Campbell Jackson, Partner, EY
Keynote address
Speaker TBA
Update on Recent Developments in ICC Arbitration and ADR
- Ana Serra e Moura, Deputy Secretary General, ICC International Court of Arbitration
Session 1: Comparative Regional Perspectives and the Future of International Arbitration in a Geopolitical World
International arbitration is increasingly shaped by geopolitical developments. Sanctions, armed conflict, investment screening, economic fragmentation and technological competition are creating new legal and commercial risks while challenging arbitration’s traditional strengths, including neutrality, enforceability and procedural efficiency. This panel will examine how courts, arbitral institutions and practitioners across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific are responding to these developments. Through a comparative regional lens, panellists will explore the practical implications for parties and tribunals, examine the resilience of the international arbitration framework, and consider what these developments mean for the future of cross border dispute resolution.
Moderator: Georges Affaki, Justice of the Qatar International Court, International Arbitrator, Professor of Law, and Counsel
Panellists:
- George Burn, Partner, CMS
Networking break
Session 2: Mediation in a Geopolitical World: Navigating Complexity Through Collaborative Dispute Resolution
As geopolitical tensions reshape international commerce, businesses are increasingly looking beyond arbitration alone to resolve complex cross-border disputes. Mediation can provide flexible, commercially focused solutions where sanctions, political instability, disrupted supply chains or regulatory divergence place long term business relationships under strain. This panel will explore how mediation is evolving alongside arbitration, the growing support for mediation from courts and arbitral institutions, and the circumstances in which mediation can offer advantages, as well as its limitations, in resolving disputes arising from an increasingly fragmented global economy.
Moderator: Richard Little, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
Panellists:
- Will Thomas KC, Partner, Freshfields
Lunch and networking break
Session 3: Discover ICC YAAF – Building the Next Generation of Dispute Resolution Professionals
Learn about the ICC Young Arbitration and ADR Forum (YAAF), a global network connecting arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals aged 40 and under. This session will explore how YAAF supports the development of emerging practitioners through networking, knowledge sharing, skills development, and access to the international arbitration community. Whether you’re new to arbitration or looking to expand your global professional network, discover how YAAF can help you build connections and advance your career in dispute resolution.
Session 4: Strategic Sectors in a Geopolitical World: Energy, Infrastructure and Investment Disputes
Heightened geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, sanctions and state intervention are reshaping investment decisions and commercial relationships across strategic sectors. Energy, infrastructure, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing and major cross border projects are increasingly affected by political risk, regulatory intervention and competing national priorities, giving rise to complex international disputes.
This panel will examine how arbitration is responding to these evolving challenges through the lens of sectors that are central to the global economy. Drawing on experience from major infrastructure, energy and investment disputes, panellists will explore the practical implications of geopolitical risk for governments, investors and multinational businesses, and consider how parties can manage disputes in an increasingly uncertain and fragmented world.
Moderator: Samantha Rowe, Partner, Debevoise and Plimpton, and Vice Chair of ICC United Kingdom Arbitration and ADR Committee
Panellists
- Nadja Al Kanawati, Counsel, King & Spalding
- EY
- Ryan Williams, Principal, Cornerstone Research
Networking break
Session 5: Navigating Geopolitical Risk from the In-house Perspective
Geopolitical risk has become a permanent feature of international business, requiring companies to rethink how they manage disputes across jurisdictions. Legal departments are increasingly balancing legal risk with commercial priorities while responding to sanctions, regulatory divergence, supply chain disruption and emerging technologies. Bringing together senior in-house counsel and leading practitioners, this panel will explore how businesses are adapting their dispute resolution strategies, what clients now expect from arbitration and ADR, and how legal teams can manage disputes more effectively in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape.
Moderator: Kate Wilford, Chair: ICC United Kingdom Corporate Counsel Group and Principal, Legal: Sustainability Regulatory and Corporate Disputes, Anglo American
Keynote Address:
Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice in England and Wales
Conference close
- Duncan Bagshaw KC, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Vice Chair of ICC United Kingdom Arbitration and ADR Committee
Networking drinks
Sponsors
Gold
Silver
Bronze
