New World Order

It's always nice to see more women among the G20 leaders. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who for so long was the sole non-WAG at such summits, has since last year been joined by Argentinean president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, bolstering the female ranks. But women are still notable by their absence in the routine photocall. What’s more, only last year, South African president Jacob Zuma (or his predecessor Thabo Mbeki) would have been the only black face among the twenty leaders of the world’s biggest economies. This year, the man in charge of the world’s most powerful nation, standing centre stage in the shot, is a black man with a white mother for whom being a global citizen isn’t just an abstract theory but a diverse reality that’s shaped his life. Say cheese, President Obama. It may not be the first time its happened but it’s the first time its happened since I began blogging. And I can’t help but bring it to wider attention.