Challenges in Global Governance: Opportunities for G-x Leadership

The upgrading of the G-20 at last September’s Pittsburgh summit to become the premier global economic policy forum was an important step to heighten cooperation among established and emerging powers. Arguably, though, this move merely gave diplomatic form to geopolitical realities and power shifts that have already been clear for some years. Indeed, a number of significant questions remain regarding the future shape of multilateral cooperation. Lacking the structure of a founding treaty or formal decision rules, what forms of action will these so-called “leadership clubs” take? Will a more inclusive approach to summit diplomacy yield problem-solving consensus?

A new Stanley Center policy analysis brief by Alan Alexandroff, a senior fellow at CIGI and co-director of the University of Toronto’s G20 Research Group, examines the various ways that the G groupings, despite their lack of formal decision mechanisms, can provide policy leadership.