The Indonesian Institute for Foreign Affairs (IIFA) invited global scholars to take part in the first annual IIFA Expert Survey on Global Affairs. IIFA is a think tank based at Universitas Islam International Indonesia (UIII), dedicated to dialogue on global affairs, geopolitics, and international cooperation. UIII is an international graduate university in Depok, West Java, established by the Government of Indonesia. We are currently hosting MA and Ph.D. students coming from approximately 50 countries.

The aim of the survey is to capture how global experts assess the direction of world affairs over the coming years, which include foreign-policy priorities, economic-security risks, the role and reform of multilateral institutions, major-power competition, and the regional flashpoints that will shape the period ahead. To do this, we are gathering professional judgment of groups of diplomats, international organization practitioners, academics, think-tank researchers, senior policy experts, private sectors and non-governmental organizations from across the globe. The responses are analyzed only in aggregate, and no individual attribution is made. The survey comprises 47 questions and takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The emails to the would-be respondents were sent out on June 22nd, 2026. The initial due date for response was set on 10 July 2026, but it was extended to 31 July 2026.

This report provides a narrative companion to the descriptive statistics report from the 2026 IIFA Expert Survey on Global Affairs. The report summarizes what the data show with specific figures and notes any features of the distribution worth flagging. A concluding section then provides narratives that draw together patterns that recur across multiple figures produced from the descriptive statistics.