New Humanism: seeds of the future in a dystopian present

New Humanism: seeds of the future in a dystopian present – Is transformative innovation leading the change? Voices from Europe

Claudia Laricchia

We live in a time when the global order seems bent on stress-testing its own endurance. From the Middle East to Latin America, from competing great-power blocs to fracturing diplomatic norms, the world is witnessing a convergence of geopolitical shocks whose economic, social and environmental consequences risk making the present feel irreparably dystopian.

At the forefront is a renewed and aggressive U.S. military and geopolitical posture. In late February 2026, the United States and Israel launched a major coordinated aerial campaign against Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader and senior military figures. This operation, justified by U.S. leaders as a pre-emptive defense against nuclear escalation, has rapidly escalated into a broader conflict regionally, with missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, and triggered global concern for stability and international law.

Simultaneously, U.S. intervention in Venezuela early in 2026 marked by the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, has been framed by Washington as law enforcement against “narcoterrorism” but widely criticized internationally as a violation of sovereignty and a transparent effort to regain influence over oil flows.

Is this democracy against dictatorship disguised as another dictatorship?

Is this a weapon of mass distraction?

Are the official reasons for the current escalation even close to the truth?

Indeed, these actions do not occur in isolation. They are emblematic of a wider fracture in diplomacy: democratic norms and international law increasingly take a back seat to unilateral hard power. The resulting climate of tension has elevated geopolitical risk, with global economic growth forecast at a modest 2.7 % in 2026 a sluggish expansion weighed down by policy uncertainty, tight fiscal conditions, and fragile investment confidence.

As power blocs jockey for influence, economic stalling has followed. Foreign direct investment, while not collapsing, has risen only marginally well below historical averages, with Europe particularly weak in attracting new capital flows.

The entire system is collapsing or maybe it’s already collapsed and some regions in the world are desperately pretending that nothing occurred, despite these geopolitical and economic strains are directly affecting social rights, civic trust, and environmental priorities. Heightened tensions around oil routes have sent energy prices soaring, nudged inflation pressures upward, and complicated the already urgent shift to renewable energy transition.  Meanwhile, climate commitments falter as governments prioritize near-term security and economic survival over long-term planetary stewardship.

The result: a present that often feels dystopian and dominated by fear, polarization, retreat, and fragmentation. The perfect dictatorship disguised by democracy.

Yet beneath this tense surface, another reality persists.

Across sectors and borders, transformative innovation is advancing with astonishing velocity. Artificial intelligence continues to evolve at exponential speeds, life expectancy and human health research push previously accepted boundaries, and digital technologies redefine every corner of human activity, often faster than policy frameworks can adapt.

It is here that seeds of a new humanism are sprouting: a paradigm which embraces complexity, integrates technology with dignity, and grounds future progress in collective purpose rather than geopolitical one-upmanship. This emerging humanity is not naive hope. It is a projective force, anchored in structures where innovation and societal values co-compose a shared future. It is against this backdrop that the ITIR Summit in Italy takes on profound significance.

The ITIR (Institute for Transformative Innovation Research) is a multidisciplinary research center at the University of Studies of Pavia (Italy). The purpose is to have a remarkable impact for the innovation eco-system and society via the investigation of the contemporary forms of transformation within organisations and eco-systems (e.g. local systems, healthcare systems), as a response to the “grand challenges” of our times.

The upcoming ITIR Summit, held on March 11th, is an open-air laboratory of transformative innovation where over 700 high level representatives from academia, business, civil society and policy co-create a shared space for future-making.

Crucially, the Summit’s architecture is a symphony: ten sessions united by a single red thread connecting Artificial Intelligence, finance, health, longevity, art, space exploration, and digital manufacturing. No one soloist can play such a symphony. Its very existence requires the courage to engage an entire system. This orchestration mirrors the essence of new humanism, a collective project that transcends the fragmented narratives dominating global politics today.

In the words of Professor Stefano Denicolai, Head of ITIR, for Mahabahu Magazine:

“We are on the brink of surpassing limits that yesterday we believed to be inviolable. Human life expectancy is increasing, artificial intelligence evolves at exponential speed, and our collective needs and progress require extreme energies. In such a scenario, should researchers simply ‘accelerate’ as fast as possible? Or is there a red line that must not be crossed? Look around us: some believe this decision should be taken by a few, if not a single person. But what we need is a transformative collective conscience being in unison not only to preserve and safeguard the beauty of the present (fundamental!) but also to orient change. At the ITIR Summit, we are trying to do just that.”

This is a clear acknowledgment that in a moment defined by global fragmentation, the only sustainable path forward lies in shared awareness and shared purpose, values at the heart of any genuine humanism. This new humanism reframes the narrative: from isolated conflicts and geopolitical standoffs to integrated systems thinking; from short-term economic survival to long-term societal resilience; from fossil-fuel entrenchment to equitable green transformation; from anxiety to co-creative agency.

Instead of retreating into fear, this vision suggests that the future is not given: it is designed. And that design is inherently collective.

In the echo of geopolitical turbulence and economic inertia, transformative innovation remains the untamed frontier, our most reliable compass toward a future less dystopian and more humanely engineered.

It is no coincidence that ITIR became the first scientific and technological partner of SMILY Academy, the special project of the Global Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Justice Forum based in Assam, India. This partnership is more than symbolic; it is systemic. It signals the capacity to weave together science, indigenous knowledge, technological acceleration and ethical responsibility into a shared architecture of the future.

It reflects a model of new humanism that does not leave anyone behind, one that is rooted in inclusion, anchored in values, and driven by a long-term vision of collective flourishing. In a world fractured by power struggles and short-term interests, such alliances are not just collaborations; they are proof that another trajectory is possible-one where innovation becomes a bridge, not a weapon, and where the future is built with, and for, the whole of humanity.

Claudia Laricchia, Women Economic Forum Italy – Public Affairs Director; SMILY Academy, President; Global Forum of Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Justice Forum, Head of Strategic International Cooperation; European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability and Rome Business School, Professor; and Correspondent of Mahabahu.

Mahabahu.com is an Online Magazine with collection of premium Assamese and English articles and posts with cultural base and modern thinking.  You can send your articles to editor@mahabahu.com / editor@mahabahoo.com (For Assamese article, Unicode font is necessary) Images from different sources.