The quest for equitable multilateralism

Multilateralism can be defined as ‘an institutional form that coordinates relations among three or more states on the basis of generalised principles of conduct. Critical scholars argue that ‘international institutions (as sites of both ideas and material power) act at both the domestic and international levels to transmit hegemonic norms’. The powerful use multilateral institutions to legitimise and strengthen their hegemony. At the same time, multilateral institutions are an arena where these hegemonic norms can be challenged by weaker states.

Democratic South Africa has played an active role in multilateral institutions, leveraging its history, geographic location, and diversity to position itself as a builder of bridges between the Global North and South, representative of Africa, and a champion of a rules-based world order. The Republic has used multilateral institutions to advocate for the maximum participation of all states (rich and poor, strong and weak) in global governance according to rules of the global order (applied equally to all), in order to ensure an equitable distribution of resources in the international system. In recent years, South Africa has become more vocal about the need to entirely rethink the multilateral system owing to the unequal application of international law in what is supposed to be a rules-based order. With its successful hosting of the XV BRICS Summit in 2023, its leadership of the African Peace Initiative to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine war, and its ground-breaking litigation against Israel for crimes of genocide in Gaza, Pretoria has asserted the Republic’s role as a pivotal player in the debate on reshaping the world order.

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