Malheureusement, cet événement se déroule exclusivement en anglais et en allemand, c’est pourquoi le résumé n’est disponible que dans ces deux langues. Nous essayons toujours d’élargir notre offre en langue française et vous remercions de votre compréhension.

The G20 summit will take place in Rio de Janeiro on 18-19 November under the Brazilian presidency. South Africa will then take over the G20 presidency from 2025 and will therefore also play an important role in light of the US election results. It is expected that South Africa will use its G20 presidency to push for greater participation and fairer representation of the Global South – and Africa in particular – in the multinational system. At the 16th BRICS Summit, held in Kazan, Russia, on 22-24 October, South Africa underlined its call for a more equitable world order and called for reforms of the UN Security Council and the World Trade Organisation. The new BRICS Plus members, including the two African states of Egypt and Ethiopia, also attended the summit in Russia for the first time. They were admitted to the group at last year’s summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

However, South Africa is also claiming an increasingly important role on the international stage outside of these forums, of which it has been the only African member to date. This can be seen, for example, in the African Peace Initiative for Ukraine launched by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, or in South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. This claim by South Africa, which impressively proved itself as a stable democracy in the elections in May this year, deserves special attention in Germany and Europe – also and especially because of South Africa’s often criticised foreign policy.

This is what we would like to discuss with our guests: What are South Africa’s foreign policy priorities, also in relation to the industrialised countries of the North? What is the status of the African Peace Initiative? What is the significance of the BRICS enlargement and the increased presence of African states in international bodies promoted by South Africa? And last but not least: What are the opportunities and challenges for Europe and German-South African relations?

Programme

Discussion

Prof. Dr Cedric de Coning, Co-Director Centre on United Nations and Global Governance, and the Climate, Peace, and Security Risk Project, Norwegian Institute for International Affairs

Dr Melanie Müller, Deputy Head of the Africa and Middle East Research Unit, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)

Kindly register by 24 November 2024 at mitgliederservice@desafor.de.