NATIONALISM REPLACES DEAD GLOBALISM

DONALD Trump did not wait for the Johannesburg G20 to conclude before unilaterally delivering what may be remembered as the most decisive blow to multilateralism.

- PRABHU CHAWLA

His announcement that South Africa wouldn't be invited to the next G20 in Miami was not phrased as a diplomatic concern, procedural adjustment, or even a strategic reservation. Trump, with his Trumpian bravado, exposed how hollow the architecture of global governance has become. It was a blunt reminder that the power dynamics underlying multilateral forums are not principles but prerogatives, and those privileges now lie firmly in the hands of nationalist leaders who have no patience for institutional theatrics.

Trump’s announcement was not merely an insult to Pretoria. It was an indictment of the G20 itself. It reminded the world that membership of these global forums is not governed by international law or shared values. These are dictated by the political aureole of the most powerful national leaders. And if the US decides that South Africa no longer fits within its own definition of acceptable global partners, then the elaborate facade of multilateral equality collapses.

In that moment, the G20 was unmasked—not as a council of equals, but as a convenience, one whose guest list can be modified at will. This, more than anything else that happened in Johannesburg, captures the state of multilateralism today: fragile, performative, and entirely susceptible to unilateral sabotage. Nations today no longer believe in the sanctity of global structures. They believe in the primacy of national interest. The multilateral age, already weakened by decades of empty summits, bureaucratic bloat, and ceremonial posturing, is now being buried under the weight of resurgent nationalism.