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. Yet a number of significant questions remain regarding the future shape of multilateral cooperation. Lacking the structure of a founding treaty or formal decision rules, how will G groupings use their growing importance to take action? Will a more inclusive approach to summit diplomacy yield problem-solving consensus? How will informal forums like the G groupings relate to formal institutions like the United Nations and other types of intergovernmental organizations? If the G-20 is the premier economic policy forum, how will the Gs deal with political and security matters?

 

A new Stanley Foundation policy analysis brief by Alan Alexandroff, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, examines the various ways that the G groupings, despite their lack of formal decision mechanisms, can provide policy leadership. Another brief by Bruce Jones, director of New York University’s Center for International Cooperation and the Brookings Institution’s Managing Global Insecurity project, outlines how the Gs could optimally complement and cooperate with other elements of the global multilateral system. Then, the Stanley Foundation’s David Shorr has written a forthcoming article in the journal Survival with Thomas Wright, executive director for studies of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, that debates the legitimacy and prospects for success of clubs that, while more inclusive than the old G-7/8, remain exclusive.