G20 in SA was a win for multilateralism and a loss for Trump's ideals

US President Donald Trump announced last week that he would ban South Africa from attending the G20 2026 summit in Miami. He said his actions are in response to South Africa's domestic policies.

- John Stremlau

Technically, he has the power to do so, but it will be contrary to the norms and values of multilateralism, which hold that states with bilateral policy issues also share collective interests. G20 countries have all shared concerns about growth and development.

The G20 is not an institutionalised treaty organisation, but a forum to build consensus and warn of problems ahead. That so many of the multilateral financial and other institutions attended the Johannesburg summit was important.

Historically, the rise of multilateralism has sought to replace the conflict-plagued attempts to achieve multipolarity, as it is an inherently unstable balance of power among a few hegemonic major powers.

Eurasia expert Anne Applebaum, in her 2025 book Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, contends with evidence that despite past differences, autocrats help each other economically, politically and with weapons. Russia and China are foremost in her analysis, with Ukraine and Taiwan being priorities.