South Africa and the world: 2018

Abstract

The round table, which focused on South Africa's 2018 foreign policy agenda during the course of the year, also looked towards possible projections for 2019, and took place on the 22 February 2018 in Pretoria at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). South Africa's 2018 foreign policy agenda is possibly its busiest since 1994. The country finds itself chairing the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) partnership and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), while it is also involved in the G20 summit. It also co-chairs the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), as well as chairing the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This provides an opportunity for the country to continue its pursuit of a developmental African and global South agenda. These leadership commitments and challenges emerge and conclude against the backdrop of an unsettled geopolitical terrain, interacting with an equally uncertain domestic political landscape as prelude to next year's national elections, which are likely to be the most fiercely contested since democratisation in the country. This public dialogue thus explored what lies ahead for South Africa in 2018 and how Tshwane will navigate one of its busiest agendas of international engagements while interrogating how domestic political dynamics may affect South Africa's foreign policy.