How Bangladesh can benefit by joining BRICS
In April this year, South Africa’s BRICS ambassador Anil Sooklal told Bloomberg that a long list of nations were now looking to join the bloc. According to an official of the foreign ministry, Bangladesh will apply to join the BRICS alliance, and the process to formally seek its membership is already underway. In this interview with […]
How Putin’s war turned an economic conference into an alliance against the West
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces an uncomfortable diplomatic conundrum. Two months after he invited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to a summit in Johannesburg this August, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president for war crimes in Ukraine. SAIIA’s Senior Researcher, Cobus van Staden, discusses Pretoria’s ties with the Kremlin in […]
The BRICS ministers in a push to develop counterweight to the West
Foreign ministers from the BRICS countries met in South Africa as the five-nation bloc seeks to forge itself into a counterweight to Western geopolitical dominance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this interview with Dispatch Live, SAIIA’s Senior Researcher Cobus van Staden says the BRICS is positioning itself as an alternative to […]
US envoy slammed after international relations blunder leaves SA embarrassed
US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety accused South Africa of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia. The ambassador alleged these we loaded onto a Russian cargo ship, the Lady R, at Simon’s Town Naval Base in December last year. According to SAIIA’s Senior Researcher Gustavo de Carvalho in an interview with Cape Argus, the […]
South Africa Summons US Ambassador Over Russia Weapons Row
The US ambassador to South Africa said South African weapons were loaded onto a Russian vessel when it docked at a Cape Town naval base in December. Pretoria summoned the ambassador amid a diplomatic spat that has put relations between the two friendly nations at their lowest ebb in years. According to SAIIA’s head of […]
President Putin poses arrest dilemma to the South African government
Pretoria has given reasons why it believes it doesn’t need to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin, should he decide to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. However, premier of the DA-controlled Western Cape, Alan Winde, plans to have President Putin arrested at Cape Town International Airport should he arrive there. According to […]
South Africa mulls options after ICC’s Putin arrest order
The International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is creating a diplomatic headache for South Africa in the lead-up to August’s BRICS summit, which Russia’s president has been invited to in the country. In an interview with Voice of America, Head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme at the SAIIA, Steven […]
South Africa’s vision: non-alignment and respect
Senior Researcher at the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme at South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Gustavo de Carvalho, discusses South Africa’s position of ‘non-alignment’ on the Ukraine conflict, as well as the continent’s strategic relations with Russia, China and the European Union. Read his full interview with Inside Over below.
With G20 in India, Global South addresses West
Ahead of the G20 Summit in India, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came under the spotlight. In this Deutsche Welle article Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), says the war acted as a catalyst for almost all of the other issues that South Africa and other countries in the […]
How Ukraine war has turned Africa into a geopolitical battleground for China, Russia and US
The Russia and Ukraine war has disrupted supply chains and cut access to affordable wheat and fertiliser from the Black Sea region, worsening food crises in African countries. Senior Researcher at the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme at South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Gustavo de Carvalho, says “the conflict has created geopolitical sensitivities […]