Opinion: G-20 summit will offer a snapshot of global dysfunction
By Stratfor analysts
Published: July 5, 2017 7:43 a.m. ET
As Trump tries to pull the U.S. back from the global stage, other nations face an uncomfortable truth
When world leaders gather in Germany for the approaching G-20 summit, they will no doubt make a slew of assertions — some alarmist, others justified — about a U.S. retreat from the global stage.
Talk of leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping stepping in to fill the void and uphold global governance on major issues such as free trade, climate change and security can be expected. But there is an underlying reality to that narrative that should be kept in mind.
Simply put, those hoping to fill the United States’ shoes in leading the world still have their own existential threats to contend with at home.
Germany and France are buying valuable time with their electorates to try to repair the European Union and make an example of the United Kingdom’s departure, but the bloc’s members still have vastly different visions of what European integration should look like and how nationalism might fit in.
China, meanwhile, is not a globalist power with a model of governance to offer the world; it is a fiercely nationalist power with global clout, caught between the compulsion to operate as a market economy and the imperative to centralize political power under the ruling Communist Party. None of these countries come close to matching the U.S. military footprint or the country’s ability to shoulder the burden that comes with superpower status.
Perhaps more important, though, is the fact that the United States may not be as able to relinquish its role in the world as it seems. U.S. corporations, interest groups, states and cities will all temper the moves made by the federal government, particularly on climate and trade matters.
Source : Market Watch
By Stratfor analysts
Published: July 5, 2017 7:43 a.m. ET
As Trump tries to pull the U.S. back from the global stage, other nations face an uncomfortable truth
When world leaders gather in Germany for the approaching G-20 summit, they will no doubt make a slew of assertions — some alarmist, others justified — about a U.S. retreat from the global stage.
Talk of leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping stepping in to fill the void and uphold global governance on major issues such as free trade, climate change and security can be expected. But there is an underlying reality to that narrative that should be kept in mind.
Simply put, those hoping to fill the United States’ shoes in leading the world still have their own existential threats to contend with at home.
Germany and France are buying valuable time with their electorates to try to repair the European Union and make an example of the United Kingdom’s departure, but the bloc’s members still have vastly different visions of what European integration should look like and how nationalism might fit in.
China, meanwhile, is not a globalist power with a model of governance to offer the world; it is a fiercely nationalist power with global clout, caught between the compulsion to operate as a market economy and the imperative to centralize political power under the ruling Communist Party. None of these countries come close to matching the U.S. military footprint or the country’s ability to shoulder the burden that comes with superpower status.
Perhaps more important, though, is the fact that the United States may not be as able to relinquish its role in the world as it seems. U.S. corporations, interest groups, states and cities will all temper the moves made by the federal government, particularly on climate and trade matters.
Source : Market Watch
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