Conclusion: Maneuvering the Muddle, from the Middle

This concluding chapter reflects on the key insights and lessons learned from the preceding chapters concerning the broader dynamics and issues surrounding workarounding. Firstly, we argue that the proliferation of workarounding as a new form of statecraft can be understood as an extended learning process. It is a response to various challenges that test the ability of governments to expand their existing toolkits. Secondly, we find that the objectives of workarounding can be categorized under two main headings. On the one hand, tech middle powers (TMPs) aim to create strategic space for themselves. On the other hand, they establish new initiatives to deliver tangible results despite the current multilateral system’s limitations related to global technological transitions, including digitalization, AI and decarbonization. Finally, the analyses contained in this book suggest the trend of workarounding will likely intensify and that workarounding is likely to be a key factor re-shaping the global order. They also highlight the conditions that will enable or constrain workarounding success. The chapter concludes by proposing several crucial questions which should inform future scholarship on TMP cooperation, the role of middle power agency, and the intersection of technology, innovation and global governance in years to come.