No leader needed

G20 shows cooperation can survive without US leadership

The leaders of the G20 group of nations met in the German port city of Hamburg this weekend, and while elements of the summit were unsurprisingly familiar to the usual diplomatic talk-shop, others revealed the contours of a new and unusual world order. In large part, leaders stuck to their prepared positions and desires — with Britain’s Theresa May, for example, seeking to bat for post-Brexit trade agreements and China’s Xi Jinping trying to head off criticism of the dumping of steel by big Chinese companies in the rest of the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on the possibilities that technological change, especially in the digital arena, provided for connectivity, skilling and jobs. Perhaps most domestic attention was focused on the bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the G20 meeting. The prime minister’s office said that the “return of economic offenders” had been discussed with Ms May — code, presumably, for the politically sensitive case of Vijay Mallya, who has been living in the London suburbs for months. And even though there was no formal bilateral meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Modi, tensions that had been heightened by the confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops near the Sikkim border were perhaps eased by photographs of the two leaders chatting informally, and words of acknowledgment for each other in their speeches.

But the news of worldwide note that emerged from the summit was undoubtedly the apparent isolation of Donald Trump’s America. Mr Trump, who took the United States dramatically out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change a few months ago, reportedly made no secret of the fact that he did not think he was elected to compromise with the rest of the world. In spite of his more-than-cordial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at which a ceasefire in Syria was discussed, Mr Trump found himself largely without support at the leaders’ high table. The declaration that was eventually issued from Hamburg was stark. It said: “We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris agreement.” And went on to add the following: “The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris agreement is irreversible.” Mr Trump’s delegation even reportedly lost a battle to replace the phrase “take note” with words that sounded more like acceptance of the US’ new stand on climate change. It did manage to introduce wording on allowing countries to access “cleaner” fossil fuels, however — which should not be completely bad news for India, which has several thermal power plants that it needs to upgrade to meet its own internally determined national contributions to carbon mitigation.

The US’ new position as the odd man out — even, perhaps, a rogue — in a world increasingly determined to fight the twin menaces of protectionism and climate change is uncomfortable. Washington has for so long played a leadership role in these matters that Mr Trump’s reversal of course cannot be anything other than disconcerting. Yet the G20 meeting showed that the world can do very well without US leadership if that is, in fact, what the new world order requires.