G20 summit wrapped up as leaders grapples with splintering world order

G20 leaders wrapped up a summit in South Africa on Nov. 23, hailing multilateralism—even as they struggled to adapt to a changing world order beset by go-it-alone U.S. policies, wars, and deepening geopolitical rivalries.

"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters.

He added, "We are not experiencing a transition, but a rupture."

He and the other leaders at the summit — which was boycotted by the United States — held a searching discussion on how the G20 can survive in a fragmenting world.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, just before bringing the gavel down on the summit, that the meeting took place "at a crucial time, as calls around the world grow louder for progress on the imperatives of our time."

Despite challenges to international cooperation, Ramaphosa said a joint declaration by G20 leaders issued early in the meeting "reaffirms our renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation and our recognition that our shared goals outweigh our differences."

Dozens of leaders from key economies around the world — including Europe, China, India, Japan, Türkiye, Brazil, and Australia — attended the summit, the first to be held in Africa.

In their G20 statement, they said their meeting was held "against the backdrop of rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability, heightened conflicts and wars, deepening inequality, increasing global economic uncertainty, and fragmentation."

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that "the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle."

Noting difficulties in finding a common stance on conflicts around the world, he argued it should focus just on strategic economic issues going forward.

The G20 — comprising 19 nations plus the European Union and the African Union — was founded in the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, and its original mission was to boost global economic and financial stability.

U.S. President Donald Trump's government snubbed the event, saying South Africa's priorities — including cooperation on trade and climate — ran counter to its policies.

The United States is to host next year's G20 summit, with Trump planning to hold it at a Florida golf club he owns.