Opinion | Trump’s re-election could mark end of era dominated by US-led globalisation

This week, world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the G20 summit. But its significance – and Biden’s presence in particular – has been overshadowed by Trump’s re-election as US president. With Trump’s well-documented disdain for multilateralism, the G20’s relevance faces the prospect of further decline.

The G20 has been criticised for failing to reform the Western-dominated world order to better reflect the evolving realities of the global landscape. One outcome of the G20’s perceived failings has been the emergence of Brics – named after the grouping’s earliest members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as an alternative platform.

Last month, the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, was attended by representatives of its newly expanded membership. The Kazan declaration reaffirmed the bloc’s dedication to strengthening connectivity and advancing the Global South’s aspirations for a more inclusive and equitable global economic order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was in Lima, Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, took part in the inauguration of Chancay Port, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative aimed at bolstering economic integration across the Asia-Pacific and beyond. This mega-port symbolises the strengthening of South-South cooperation and underscores China’s commitment to enhancing connectivity and fostering shared prosperity within the Apec framework.

Some Western analysts regard Chancay Port as a potential security concern. More broadly, China’s expanding Belt and Road Initiative and the growing influence of the Brics consortium are seen as challenges to the Western-led international order.