Uma visão menos laudatória da cúpula do G20 no Rio de Janeiro:
Bloomberg: Balance of Power
Flavia Krause-Jackson
November 19, 2024
As the caipirinhas flowed and samba dancers swayed for VIP guests gathered for the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janiero, the party mood suddenly turned sour.
The summit communique popped up online after the impatient host, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, abruptly shut down behind-the-scenes squabbling among G-20 leaders over language characterizing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
That left a bitter taste, particularly among the US and its allies, at a summit characterized by disorganization and division among the leaders of the world’s largest economies.
What had been billed as a moment for “the West and the Rest” to show unity only served to display how quickly the guardrails are coming off the international rules-based order.
North Koreans are fighting in Europe for the first time. Israel is resisting US efforts to halt fighting with Hezbollah and Hamas. China regularly conducts military exercises surrounding Taiwan. Nuclear war is suddenly a risk amid surging tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And that’s even before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The sense of global disorder played out vividly in the traditional “family photo.” US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian premier Giorgia Meloni were missing when the picture was taken on the summit’s first day, so Lula called a re-shoot today.
They were in the picture this time, though the fake background in lieu of Rio’s stunning Sugarloaf Mountain in the first shot only reinforced the impression that summit unity was a facade.
Trump’s looming return hung over the proceedings, amid speculation about what kind of role the US would play in world affairs in his presidency.
Most comfortable were leaders of the Global South. India’s Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping smiled and chatted with ease.
With Trump threatening tariffs on them, though, it felt a bit like the calm before the storm.
