The meeting will focus on Gaza and Ukraine but countries from the Global South want to confront reform, climate change and economic fairness. US FM Marco Rubio is boycotting over South Africa’s “anti-American” policies.
The foreign ministers of the world’s 20 main economies (G20) are gathering for a two-day meeting in South Africa on Thursday.
The confab is expected to address the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine; though representatives from the Global South, including Brazil, India and South Africa, hope to deal with what they say are much-needed reforms to international institutions, confronting climate change and ensuring more equitable economic development.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Li, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the UK’s David Lammy and France’s Jean-Noel Barrot will all attend the meeting, though Germany’s Foreign Office said Annalena Baerbock will not.
The big news, however, is a boycott by Washington’s top diplomat.
Why is Marco Rubio boycotting the G20?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made headlines before the two-day gathering began by canceling his participation. The US will instead be represented by an embassy diplomat according to the State Department.
Rubio’s boycott comes amid diplomatic tensions over a South African land restitution law that the US has labeled land “confiscation” and unfair to whites. Rubio also called out what he said was Pretoria’s “anti-American” agenda in a statement.
The country has been targeted in online attacks by US President Donald Trump, who cited the land reform law when announcing a halt to all foreign aid to South Africa; and presidential donor/advisor Elon Musk, who grew up in apartheid South Africa and called the law “racist.”
Washington is also displeased with South Africa over its aggressive legal pursuit of ally Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza — which Pretoria claims amounts to genocide.
Transatlantic rift overshadows global decision making
South Africa, which assumed the G20’s rotating presidency last year, is the first African country to host the foreign ministers’ forum.
The G20 comprises 19 countries as well as the European Union and the African Union, representing two-thirds of the world’s population and 85% of global economic output.
A sizable rift has opened up between the US and Europe over the past several weeks — with President Trump making assertions that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion; as well as laying claim to Gaza, Greenland, the Panama Canal, etc., and Vice President JD Vance questioning whether the US and Europe still share the same values.
The program of pursuing a common developmental agenda as put forth by so-called Global South nations already suffers a perceived lack of urgency and is now under threat of being further overshadowed by ongoing geopolitical upheaval in the form of conflict, compounded by a dramatic realignment of US foreign policy under Trump.
Rubio’s absence from the two-day session will be a further distraction, though may provide an opportunity to move forward without US engagement. It is also an opportunity for China to seek greater influence as the US abdicates it leadership role.
