The shrinking gap between the West and the rest, the diminishing role of the EU, the rise of China and the Asian region, the political morass in the Middle East, the rise of non-state actors--all these global trends have given birth to a more complicated structure of contemporary international relations. There is no longer a supreme actor in international affairs who will decide others’ future. “Global governance” has gained in popularity over recent years as concerns over the increasing lack of consistent leadership and policing forces. While mainstream IR scholars are trying to puzzle out whether such a phenomenon (global governance) is possible at all, global decision-making and global policy implementation is becoming an absolute necessity in this capricious international climate.
Global governance is not the responsibility of the few; rather, it should be an undertaking by the many. The dramatic upward trajectory of the G20 is a rare glimpse into the international cooperation and political globalization processes. Established in late 1999, the G20's role gained prominence in November 2008 when leaders met in Washington, DC to address the challenges of the global economic crisis and find ways out of economic morass through a high-level coordinated response. At that meeting, the leaders agreed to implement an Action Plan around three main objectives: 1) Restoring global growth; 2) Strengthening the international financial system; and 3.) Reforming international financial institutions. The G20 thus became a decisive actor in the global economic crisis.
Although the G20 is supposed to deal primarily with economic issues, its leverage goes beyond that calling; the G20 members are amalgamating into a political decision-making body as the political will of the member-countries’ political elite becomes the main driving force for the implementation of decisions made by the G20. The recent study by Homi Kharas and Domenico Lombardi of The Brookings Institution underlines the overarching impact that the G20 has on the global governance, calling it the “best available option” for global economic governance. Official statistics back this argument up: the G20 accounts for 80 percent of the world’s population, and 90 percent of its economic activity. It is a platform for building mutual trust between member states, as well as a means for non-members to make their voice heard in global governance. The aforementioned study by Khoras and Lombardi reveals that the G24 countries (an informal group of developing countries) are typically invited to participate in the G20’s finance ministers’ meetings. Where else can the countries of the Global South exert their power and make their voice heard at global level if not in the G20? At the UN, any attempt by the developing world to participate in the global decision-making process is hampered by the UN Security Council’s permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK, the U.S.). Yet it is the G20 where emerging giants (like Brazil and India) are given an opportunity of taking part in the “world sobering projects.”
The establishment of the G20 is already a decisive victory over “Global Skeptics” who thumb their noses at international cooperation, for whom the world is nothing but an anarchic structure where the stronger wins and the weaker loses. The world had changed--it has become so interdependent that “going into war” is no longer a cheap and reasonable option for the achievement of one’s goals; rather it is a costly business as the actor’s losses will outweigh gains. Exceptions are possible, but they are no longer norms.
Economic, as well as political globalization is a natural evolutionary process, hence the “global thirst” for cooperation. Thus, the G20 appears to be a robust body capable of and structured to dealing with the 21st century’s challenges.
Time has come to reshape world order. It is time to eschew insular passions; it is time to grasp the nettle in order to save the world from global financial crisis, global environmental changes, global nuclear terrorism, and world-crossing hazardous concomitants.
Vahram Ayvazyan is a 2012 graduate of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter.
Photo by DonkeyHotey (cc).
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The G20 in a Global World
December 2, 2012
The shrinking gap between the West and the rest, the diminishing role of the EU, the rise of China and the Asian region, the political morass in the Middle East, the rise of non-state actors--all these global trends have given birth to a more complicated structure of contemporary international relations. There is no longer a supreme actor in international affairs who will decide others’ future. “Global governance” has gained in popularity over recent years as concerns over the increasing lack of consistent leadership and policing forces. While mainstream IR scholars are trying to puzzle out whether such a phenomenon (global governance) is possible at all, global decision-making and global policy implementation is becoming an absolute necessity in this capricious international climate.
Global governance is not the responsibility of the few; rather, it should be an undertaking by the many. The dramatic upward trajectory of the G20 is a rare glimpse into the international cooperation and political globalization processes. Established in late 1999, the G20's role gained prominence in November 2008 when leaders met in Washington, DC to address the challenges of the global economic crisis and find ways out of economic morass through a high-level coordinated response. At that meeting, the leaders agreed to implement an Action Plan around three main objectives: 1) Restoring global growth; 2) Strengthening the international financial system; and 3.) Reforming international financial institutions. The G20 thus became a decisive actor in the global economic crisis.
Although the G20 is supposed to deal primarily with economic issues, its leverage goes beyond that calling; the G20 members are amalgamating into a political decision-making body as the political will of the member-countries’ political elite becomes the main driving force for the implementation of decisions made by the G20. The recent study by Homi Kharas and Domenico Lombardi of The Brookings Institution underlines the overarching impact that the G20 has on the global governance, calling it the “best available option” for global economic governance. Official statistics back this argument up: the G20 accounts for 80 percent of the world’s population, and 90 percent of its economic activity. It is a platform for building mutual trust between member states, as well as a means for non-members to make their voice heard in global governance. The aforementioned study by Khoras and Lombardi reveals that the G24 countries (an informal group of developing countries) are typically invited to participate in the G20’s finance ministers’ meetings. Where else can the countries of the Global South exert their power and make their voice heard at global level if not in the G20? At the UN, any attempt by the developing world to participate in the global decision-making process is hampered by the UN Security Council’s permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK, the U.S.). Yet it is the G20 where emerging giants (like Brazil and India) are given an opportunity of taking part in the “world sobering projects.”
The establishment of the G20 is already a decisive victory over “Global Skeptics” who thumb their noses at international cooperation, for whom the world is nothing but an anarchic structure where the stronger wins and the weaker loses. The world had changed--it has become so interdependent that “going into war” is no longer a cheap and reasonable option for the achievement of one’s goals; rather it is a costly business as the actor’s losses will outweigh gains. Exceptions are possible, but they are no longer norms.
Economic, as well as political globalization is a natural evolutionary process, hence the “global thirst” for cooperation. Thus, the G20 appears to be a robust body capable of and structured to dealing with the 21st century’s challenges.
Time has come to reshape world order. It is time to eschew insular passions; it is time to grasp the nettle in order to save the world from global financial crisis, global environmental changes, global nuclear terrorism, and world-crossing hazardous concomitants.
Vahram Ayvazyan is a 2012 graduate of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter.
Photo by DonkeyHotey (cc).
