What does the G20 summit say about the new global order?
Donald Trump's election ushers in era of 'transactional' geopolitics that threatens to undermine international consensus

World leaders are meeting in Brazil for a G20 summit that looks set to usher in a new era of "transactional" geopolitics driven by national self-interest rather than international consensus.
Agreement will be sought on issues such as trade, climate change and international security. But many observers are "bracing for a shift in the global order", said Reuters, with the return to power of US president-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened a global tariff war and a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.
What did the commentators say?
European leaders are "waking up to an uncomfortable new reality", said the Financial Times: "transactional geopolitics is back".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump, who will take control of the White House in just over two months, "prefers bilateral negotiations and quid pro quo arrangements" to multilateral frameworks such as the G20 and "his acolytes are already laying the groundwork for his regime".
In a sign of how the US election has already emboldened Trump's allies, French President Emmanuel Macron met arch-libertarian Argentinian President Javier Milei on Sunday in a "last-ditch attempt to stop him derailing" this week's summit, said Politico.
Milei, who last week became the first foreign leader to meet Trump in person following his election victory, had threatened to block a joint G20 communique that referenced taxing the super-rich, climate change policy and gender issues. Negotiators managed to salvage the draft statement by adding a footnote saying that Argentina does not agree with some of the points. But the drama has "frustrated counterparts" because "Milei has little regard for multilateral institutions like the G20, and few qualms about irking world leaders with whom he disagrees", Bloomberg said.
They also see in Milei the "impending shadow of Trump's impact on other governments and the future crumbling of global pacts aimed at aligning economic policies in the spirit of compromise", said the FT.
Diplomats drafting a joint statement have also "struggled to hold together a fragile agreement" on how to address the escalating Ukraine war, or "even a vague call for peace without criticism of any participants", said Reuters, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
Keir Starmer has implored fellow leaders to "shore up support for Ukraine" even as the consensus around standing united against Vladimir Putin appears to be "fracturing" and the Russian president looks "emboldened", said Sky News.
What next?
With the US represented by "lame duck" Joe Biden, China's President Xi Jinping is set to be a "central player" at a summit riven with geopolitical tensions, said Reuters.
This week, Starmer will become the first PM in six years to meet his Chinese counterpart. The meeting is part of what he calls a new "pragmatic approach" to try to advance economic ties and galvanise progress on challenges such as climate change.
While diplomacy always requires a degree of pragmatism, what will worry Western leaders is that a world in which "countries pick and choose their stance on individual issues depending on a narrow vision of national benefits rather than through multinational compromise" could lead to a "more permanent fracturing of groups like the G20", said the FT. These alliances have long served as a bridge between the West and developing nations, but a shifting world power balance is increasingly being seized upon by rivals such as China and Russia to "strengthen alternative groupings and undermine western alliances".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Elliott Goat is a freelance writer at The Week Digital. A winner of The Independent's Wyn Harness Award, he has been a journalist for over a decade with a focus on human rights, disinformation and elections. He is co-founder and director of Brussels-based investigative NGO Unhack Democracy, which works to support electoral integrity across Europe. A Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow focusing on unions and the Future of Work, Elliott is a founding member of the RSA's Good Work Guild and a contributor to the International State Crime Initiative, an interdisciplinary forum for research, reportage and training on state violence and corruption.
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
The Explainer Trump is not the only US president who has tried to gain control of Greenland
By The Week UK Published
-
What dangers does the leaked Signal chat expose the US to?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House's ballooning group chat scandal offered a masterclass in what not to say when prying eyes might be watching
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Americans deserve immigration officials who are transparent about what they do and why'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
'Even authoritarian regimes need a measure of public support — the consent of at least some of the governed'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
USPS Postmaster General DeJoy steps down
Speed Read Louis DeJoy faced ongoing pressure from the Trump administration as they continue to seek power over the postal system
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published