At the geopolitical level, the Western G7 countries and NATO were pitted against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. Post-war multilateral cooperation had distinct, albeit interrelated, institutional structures for geopolitical and economic cooperation. A number of former colonies also tried to maintain a neutral ‘non-aligned’ position equidistant from the two cold warring blocks and organised themselves through various multilateral bodies that voiced the economic concerns of developing countries, leading to what is commonly called the ‘North-South’ divide. The former colonies, who were now independent countries, were drawn into the multilateral system on an equal (sovereign, but not economic) footing as part of one or the other camp. Following the defeat of the Axis powers, the world was now split up into two ‘cold warring’ camps that rendered the formal institution of multilateral cooperation, the United Nations, ineffectual. Multilateralism had so far been essentially a European phenomenon, with non-European countries subordinated as colonies. The two world wars marked the end of multilateral cooperation through the Concert. The Concert successfully negotiated the cataclysms of 1848, but could not accommodate the new rising powers, notably Germany, Italy and Japan, or manage the breakup of the Ottoman empire. Modern multilateralism took first shape in the form of the Concert of Europe that tried to maintain the balance of power amongst the big powers in Europe (England, France, Prussia, Austria, Russia) following the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815. The Peace of Westphalia led to a sharp reduction in religious conflict, but big power conflicts in Europe continued right up to the Napoleonic wars that followed the French Revolution. The secular authority of the Caliph lasted longer but clearly weakened from the 18th century with the rise of Europe following the Industrial Revolution, and even earlier with the emergence of Sultans. A prolonged period of religious wars ensued in Europe, leading up to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 where several European powers agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states. This religion-based multilateralism broke down with the Reformation, following which some great powers, notably England, ceased to accept the authority of the Pope. It was the Pope who brokered peace in the initial stages of globalisation that began with the Age of Discovery that pitted European powers against each other in their quest for acquiring new lands. Multilateral cooperation was for long enforced through the heads of the Islamic and Christian faiths whose leaders (the Caliph and the Pope) exercised both religious and secular authority. What does this augur for the G20 going forward? Is the G20 splintering or coming apart? It might be useful, while trying to understand this, to step back and ruminate on the origins of multilateralism and the dynamics underlying the G20. There is now a possibility that G20 Leaders might not be able to agree a communique for the first time when they meet next in New Delhi in September this year for their 18th Summit. ![]() The pattern was repeated in the first two ministerial meetings under the Indian presidency where dissensions reached such a level that not only could joint statements not be issued at the end of these meetings, but ministers could not even agree to repeat the language used by their leaders in Bali on Ukraine. However, geopolitical issues took centre stage for the first time in the discussions and the Leaders’ Declaration at the G20 Summit in Bali late last year. ![]() ![]() The G20 is the premier forum for multilateral economic cooperation.
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