Edition 26: G20 Recap, A Summit Amidst Geopolitical Uncertainty
Special Edition - G20 Recap: A Summit Amidst Geopolitical Uncertainty
Source: CNN
The 17th G20 Summit took place last week in Nusa Dua, Bali, from 15–16 November 2022. Despite it being an annual occurrence, this year’s summit gained more attention as it happened against the backdrop of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the increasing US-China tensions.
Considering Indonesia’s prominent role in holding the G20 Presidency this year, we thought that we would dive deeper than we usually do in our headliners to cover some highlights, lowlights, and geopolitical tensions that influenced negotiations.
The Russia problem
Ever since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, calls have been made by a number of Western governments to exclude Russia from the G20.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin had indicated earlier in the year his resolve to attend the Summit, Russian officials confirmed just days before the Summit that Putin would not be attending.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attended in Putin’s place. Even then, Lavrov left early at the end of the first day of the Summit, and was replaced by the Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov.
Russia has accused the West of turning the G20 into an anti-Russian platform, even though Russian ‘allies’ like India and China have disassociated themselves from the war despite having different views on it compared to their Western counterparts.
The mood of the Summit was also soured by Russian missile attacks on Kyiv and other essential civilian infrastructure sites in Ukraine. The attack came on Tuesday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke virtually at the G20 Summit.
On early Wednesday morning, news emerged regarding a Russian-made missile hitting Poland, killing two civilians, prompting the G7 to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the alleged attack.
Preliminary reports stated that it was a stray Ukrainian air-defense missile trying to intercept a barrage of Russian missiles, which calmed down fears of a NATO escalation. The emergency meeting briefly delayed G20 festivities.
Tensions with China
Focus was also placed on China’s position in the world, with a historic meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping taking place as the two seek to cool tensions amid disagreements regarding Taiwan’s status.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also had a chance to meet with Xi. The two were on the Summit sidelines talking about China’s domestic interference in the Canadian election.
A rare candid moment of Xi confronting Trudeau directly regarding his displeasure that their conversation was leaked to the press was caught on camera.
Some lowlights…
Outside of the Summit, there were various security issues that disrupted the delegation from China, the US, and even Jokowi’s own convoy.
A massive review of the Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) was deemed necessary when a woman somehow managed to break through the Paspampres’s security rather easily and shook Jokowi’s hand.
The G20’s first religious summit, the R20, also stirred some controversy by inviting the Indian Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing paramilitary Hindu nationalist party. But many laud the move to engage with the RSS in a bid to drive up religious harmony in India.
Many activists also decried the suppression of freedom of speech during the G20 Summit, with many being barred from joining local events and banned from protesting. Foreign citizens who participate in public protests have also been threatened with deportation.
But also some highlights…
Indonesia was successful in launching the G20 Pandemic Fund, seeking to finance pandemic surveillance and research efforts in low-to-middle income countries. The fund has raised USD 1.4 billion so far with support from various countries and organizations. We have covered this topic in a post made in collaboration with CISDI.
Jokowi also signed the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which will provide around USD 20 billion to facilitate the retirement of coal power plants and a transition to renewable energy in Indonesia.
The Summit ended with a Joint Declaration against the Russian aggression towards Ukraine and a call to action to fix the worsening economic crisis.
This is significant given fears that this G20 would be the first to end without a joint statement from its members’ leaders.
This success can be attributed to the Indonesian delegation’s decision to forgo the standard communique, which requires consensus.
Knowing that there would be disagreement regarding the language surrounding Russia's war with Ukraine, the Indonesian delegation pre-emptively pushed for a Joint Declaration instead.
Perhaps the key highlight was the hundreds of staffers and volunteers who made the event possible. There was everyone from media professionals, logistics, hospitality staff, and others who made the event run as smoothly as possible given the circumstances.
Where to from here?
Despite a few hiccups along the way, many international media sources and academics have deemed this year’s G20 to be a success in affirming multilateralism and continuing global economic cooperation. Indonesia was also hailed for advocating the interests of developing countries to the West.
This not only cements Indonesia’s growing clout in the international arena, but is also important given globalization requires that global problems - such as climate change and pandemics - be remedied by global solutions.
However, that the Summit was unable to bring Russia and Ukraine to the diplomatic table despite the strong ambitions of the Indonesian Presidency to mediate peace, represents a glaring limitation of the geopolitical credentials of the G20 as a body.
In order to realize the positive policy progress achieved through the Summit, the G20 as a body and Indonesia as its 2022 President, must continue to monitor implementation of its agenda. Doing so is necessary to ensure that the benefits of multilateralism and international cooperation are felt by the grassroots.
What Is Up, Indonesia?
🌎 Politics, Law & International Relations
DPR Hopes RKUHP to be Passed Next Week: The People’s Representative Council (DPR) moves forward to ratify revisions to the Criminal Code (RKUHP) despite activist demands to rescind controversial clauses that would further restrict civil liberties.
Jokowi and Xi Saw the Jakarta-Bandung HSR Project Pass a Key Milestone: The long awaited Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail project, funded by Chinese investment, passes a key milestone while being watched by Jokowi and Xi Jinping as it finishes a key technical test.
📈 Economics, Business & Technology
Central Bank Announces a Further 50 bps Rate Hike: Bank Indonesia officials continue to hike rates a further 50 basis points to combat the Rupiah’s continual slide against the US dollar and to counter rising inflation.
Minimum Wage Goes Up 10%: After much deliberation with union workers, the government has agreed to hike up the minimum salary by a maximum of 10%
New Capital City Reportedly Draws Interest from Several G20 Countries: The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) said that South Korea, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were reportedly interested in investing in the development of Nusantara, the new capital city.
🏛️ Society & Culture
Earthquake Shakes Cianjur and Surrounds: A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has rocked Indonesia, striking Cianjur in West Java as its epicenter. Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil announced that a tragic 162 people have died as of 22/11.
Muhammadiyah Announces Leader: Haedar Nashir gets a second term as the Chairman of Indonesia’s second largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah. He plans to promote a more progressive version of Islam.
Government Wants to Host 2036 Olympics in New Capital: The government has expressed interest to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2036 Summer Olympics in the yet-to-be built new capital city of Nusantara.
What We're Reading
Indonesia’s independent and active approach to international relations has long been controversial, especially when this foreign policy principle led to a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Given Indonesia’s support for the G20 Joint Declaration that condemned Russia, what remains of this long-held foreign policy principle?
Editorial : Indonesia Recovers from Foreign Policy Non-Sense “There is pride and honor in diplomacy for the greater good to achieve something for the benefits of the whole world. And with this recovery of the mindset Indonesia and the whole world will come out of the summit stronger.” – Omong Omong Editorial
WIUI Recommends
Inside Job (Netflix): What better way to celebrate the G20 Summit than watching a comedy about a roundtable of global cabals behind the world’s wackiest conspiracy theories? Inside Job offers a refreshing take in the adult animation genre, flipping the smart loner scientist dynamic that Rick and Morty had without all of the toxic babbles and pseudo-intellectual nihilism. The show just got a new season and I highly recommend it not just because the main character is my wai...
~ Cult Leader Maik
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Disclaimer: We are not professionals. We are prone to bias and error so please verify and double-check everything! We highly encourage you to do your own research.