Why the Old Global Order Can’t Save Us Anymore
The #G20 just ended. The dust is still settling. And the message is loud: the world is hungry for renewal — for fairness, for stability, for leaders who act with courage, not tantrums.
1 The Themes Were Clear: Sustainability. Solidarity. Equality.
This summit wasn’t about polite speeches. It was about survival.
Leaders spoke about a world stretched thin — by debt, by war, by inequality, by old systems pretending to still work. And beneath the formal smiles, one truth echoed:
Humanity needs a new operating system.
2 Spiraling Debt: The Silent Monster Eating Nations Alive
Debt is no longer a number. Debt is now a weapon — a slow, grinding force that steals futures.
Across the developing world, governments spend more money servicing interest than building hospitals, roads, schools, or safety nets. Even some developed economies feel the squeeze.
This is madness. Money meant for life is going to lenders. Money meant for growth is going into a bottomless pit.
Let’s say it plain: Shrewd Bankers from the developed world engineered this debt trap. They must help unbuild it. Not tomorrow. Now. Debt forgiveness is not charity — it’s justice.
But not all debt is to be forgiven. Some gets paid: Namibia's bold and fearless President Nandi-Ndaitwah shared how her country settled their $700million loan. On time. In Full. And yet, Bankers continue to price African risk exponentially high.
3 Economic Growth Has Collapsed — And We Can’t Pretend Otherwise
Turkey's President Erdogan gave the clearest warning:
1987 to 2007: world trade grew at 7% per year.
2008 to 2024: that dropped to 3%pa.
That’s not a slowdown. That’s a stall.
And when growth stalls, jobs shrink, inequality rises, and social tensions explode.
If we don’t revive global growth, we will drift into a darker world — a world of closed borders, angry streets, and political extremism.
The world needs to grow again, and grow in a way that lifts everyone, not just the few.
4 The WTO Is Running on Expired Rules
The WTO is supposed to be the referee of global trade. But the game has changed — and the rulebook hasn’t.
Tech changed. Geopolitics changed. Power shifted from North & West to East and South. But the WTO stayed stuck in yesterday.
We can’t build tomorrow’s prosperity with yesterday’s tools.
A full rewrite is needed. Clear rules. Fair play. Real enforcement. Real modernization
5 And Then There’s the Bleeding World: Gaza. Ukraine. Sudan.
Three wars. Three open wounds.
Ukraine shattered.
Sudan forgotten.
Gaza… almost 2 million people displaced, thousands mercilessly murdered, children buried in rubble — while the world watched… and did almost nothing.
These conflicts are not side issues. They are symptomatic of a global system broken at the root.
A world at war cannot be a world at peace with itself. A world at war cannot grow. A world at war cannot solve climate, debt, poverty, or anything else.
Peace is not a “nice-to-have.” Peace is the foundation.
6 Trump’s No-Show and the Tantrum Diplomacy
Trump boycotted the G20. Then changed his mind. Then didn’t come. Then was supposed to send Vance or Rubio but didn't.
Yet he pledged $4.6 billion to the Global Fund, on the sidelines to steal the G20's thunder — same weekend — consistent with his egoic stunts.
Let’s be honest: This was optics, not humanity.
Earlier this year he slashed funding for USAID and PEPFAR — gutting HIV programs, lifesaving work, entire health systems. Lives were thrown into chaos.
And now — suddenly — a $4.6B “gift”? But there's a clear difference between pledging and depositing $4.6bn into donee's bank accounts to procure vaccines to save lives. Will the money ever turn into vaccines and deposited into people's bodies? Time will tell, though we doubt it.
Backwards-forwards. A leadership style built on indecision, inconsistency and shock. Not service.
Real leadership isn’t a circus. Real leadership doesn’t play with human lives like poker chips.
7 Meanwhile, the World’s Adults Showed Up
The true heavyweights came in person:
From the 'original' G7: UK. Germany. France. Canada. Italy.
Invitees: Brazil’s President. Singapore’s Prime Minister. South Korea’s President. Turkiye's President.
President's from the EU, AU, Asean, UN, WTO: all present,
They came. They engaged. They led. Declaration signed and sealed.
The world is not buying the tantrum politics.
8 So Where Do We Go From Here?
This G20 showed us the world is at a crossroads:
Debt must be forgiven.
Growth must be accelerated.
Trade rules must be re-authored.
Peace must be restored.
Leaders must grow spines — and souls.
President Ramaphosa, pictured below with Isaac Lakhi, set the tone: A call for a just and fair world — a world where the shadows of oppression die, where poverty becomes a museum piece, and where humanity acts like one tribe under one sky.
This is the world we deserve. This is the world we can build.
