G-20 stymied by lack of US leadership

OVER the weekend, G-20 leaders made advances towards tackling the Covid-19 crisis. Yet, the summit's ambition to develop a powerful package of measures to tackle the pandemic was stymied by the absence of the leadership of the United States, and wider divisions within the club of world powers.

Saturday and Sunday's big event, hosted for the first time by an Arab state, in Saudi Arabia, took place amid the most serious global crisis since the international financial shock of just over a decade ago, and had the clear potential to be the most important G-20 since the 2009 meeting in London. Then the multilateral forum, with United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the chair, coordinated an approximately US$1 trillion stimulus package to bolster the global economy during a troubled period.

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