Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 11/2009

Is the G-20 Summit a Step Toward a New Global Economic Order?

Colin I. Bradford, Johannes F. Linn, Director

September 2009

The Brookings Institution

Abstract

In November 2008, President George W. Bush convened the first G-20 summit in Washington to address the worst global financial economic crisis since the Great Depression. This summit provided a long-overdue opportunity for a dramatic and lasting change in global governance. This was followed by the election of Barack Obama, who had campaigned on a distinctly different foreign policy platform compared with his Republican rival, Senator John McCain. These two events were no mere coincidence.