With Brazil preparing to host the Group of 20 summit, it appears unlikely the leading rich and developing nations will sign on to a meaningful declaration regarding geopolitics The meeting Monday and Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro is overshadowed by two major wars and Donald Trump's recent election victory.
Heightened global tensions and uncertainty about an incoming Trump administration have tempered any expectations for a strongly worded statement addressing the conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine . Experts instead anticipate a final document focused on social issues like the eradication of hunger - one of Brazil's priorities - even if it aims to include at least a mention of the ongoing wars.
"Brazilian diplomacy has been strongly engaged in this task, but to expect a substantively strong and consensual declaration in a year like 2024 with two serious international conflicts is to set the bar very high," said Cristiane Lucena Carneiro, an international relations professor at the University of Sao Paulo.
After Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thwarted far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro 's reelection bid in 2022, there was some excitement in the international community at the prospect of the leftist leader and savvy diplomat - who Barack Obama once called "the most popular politician on Earth" - hosting the G20. Bolsonaro had little personal interest in international summits, let foreign policy be guided by ideology and clashed with several leaders, including France's Emmanuel Macron . Lula took office and often quoted a catchphrase "Brazil is back."
Brazil under Lula has reverted to its decades-old principle of non-alignment to carve out a policy that best safeguards its interests in an increasingly multipolar world. That involves talking to all parties, which experts say gave Brazil a privileged position to host a summit such as the G20.
