The G20 (“Group of 20”) is a collective of 20 countries and their leaders who created an annual forum to meet and discuss global economic policies created in response to the Asian financial crisis in 1999. Members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).

This year’s summit was held in Hangzhou, China and concluded on Sept. 5th. After a tumultuous year of fear-mongering and xenophobia by US presidential candidates, the shocking exit of the UK from the EU in the June 2016 Brexit vote and tensions in the South China Sea over the Hague Court ruling, the summit could be considered a small beacon of success. Generally, many of the countries agreed that rising protectionism regarding international trade could pose a major threat to global economic growth, and most parties involved agreed there is a growing need to identify the benefits of trade to combat “populist-fueled discontent”.

Although several of the big issues such as agreements on the Syria crisis and the UK’s new role in the global economy after Brexit were only vaguely discussed without a clear path to solutions, many countries are satisfied with the moderate success of the summit. A “bright spot” of the summit included President Obama and President Xi’s meeting to ratify the Paris Climate Accords.

Globalization is a complicated and multi-faceted issue that can be resolved mostly as time passes and mutual understanding is gained. We hope that next year will build on the discussions had in Hangzhou and that we can all continue to build international trust!

Sources: Reuters (image), The Guardian, The Council on Foreign Relations, G20 official website