The Foreign Policy Forum: Regional Powers in Global Politics accompanies South Africa’s membership in the UN Security Council during its two-year term in 2019-2020. It consists of a series of roundtables each dedicated to a particular theme. The overarching topic is the role of regional powers in global affairs which is characterized by a return of great power politics and erosion of multilateralism. Each roundtable consists of a select group of local and international experts. In this fifth event, we are looking back at the last two years and explore achievements and controversies which accompanied the terms of South Africa and Germany in the Security Council. Have both countries fulfilled their promised agenda, how have they dealt with great power contention over Venezuela or Syria? Could non-permanent members ease tensions or have they contributed to block-building? What role can African members of the Security Council play in advancing continental issues?