It is a common practice today to speak about the demise of the liberal world order. Threats to multilateralism, free trade and democratic values seem to arise from everywhere; both through a growing assertiveness of authoritarian regimes, but also from within liberal democracies.
After the G7 summit in Canada it is questioned whether the global summitry, be it G7 or G20, can have any value anymore or whether it should be scrapped altogether, at least as long as cooperative multilateralism is regarded as useless by the largest economic and military power, the US. Is there anything substantial to be expected from the next G20 Summit in Argentina in November this year or from the next G7 summit in France in 2019?…
Only six weeks went by between the Taormina G7 and Hamburg G20 meetings, which were both chaired by a major EU Member State. A substantive link between the two summits was therefore to be expected. Indeed, at least to some extent, a useful connection was set in motion. The results of these two events seem to suggest an informal – but organic – relation between the diplomatic and cooperative efforts of the much narrower and more homogeneous G7 with the G20 summit.
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