South Africa Can Mitigate Trump’s Ire Through Economic Diplomacy and Non-Alignment
The Trump administration’s hostility towards the South African government encompasses a mix of realpolitik, genuine concerns, factual revisionism, and deliberate misinterpretation that has put Pretoria on the back foot in its relations with one of its largest trading partners. Washington’s core frustrations with fundamental elements of South African policy are unlikely to change - most notably its genocide case against Israel at the ICJ and its advocacy for global governance reform, as also its central role in BRICS. Analysts in Johannesburg express fear the US might seek to make an example of South Africa to demonstrate that U.S. economic might cannot be replaced by BRICS partners. This has led to widespread concern amongst other African nations fearful of what a ‘with us or against us’ US approach to the continent might yield. US tariffs could hurt the South African economy, but Pretoria is already leveraging its energy transition to attract support from the EU and other partners.
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