Toronto. As Monty Python would say: This is a city under siege. Walls of concrete have divided the downtown core. Police redirect cyclists past the security barriers. All leading locals to wonder: Couldn’t the G20 meet by teleconference?
The evolution of the G5 to the G7 to the G8 to the G20 is a parable of the growth of government. The original idea advanced by French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing 35 years ago was simple and powerful: a two-day summit of the leaders of the US, Japan, West Germany, UK and France to discuss economic issues. No agenda, no resolutions – just a rare chance for human relationship building and candid off-the-record conversation among the leaders of the world’s biggest capitalist democracies. It was a good idea then, it would be a good idea now.
But over the years, the meeting has grown and grown and grown. With so many leaders taking part, an agenda becomes indispensable. If there is an agenda, there must be staffing. If there is staffing, staffers must attend. With so many attendees, the meeting would look like a failure unless it produced some kind of communiqué, resolution, or action plan. And with everybody expecting a communiqué, resolution or action plan, the off-the-record meeting now attracts hundreds and thousands of reporters, bloggers and assorted other media types.
Over the years, a meeting that was intended to open informal and personal communication has metamorphosed into exactly the very thing to which it was supposed to be an alternative. D’Estaing’s attempt to break free from his bureaucracy has produced a vast new project for bureaucracy. The circle has been closed, as always.
wierz // Jun 21, 2010 at 10:31 pm
World leaders can call each other up for informal discussions whenever they please. It’s not like Obama is some wilting flower who needs to wait demurely for some official function as pretext to speak to another head of state. Telephones exist.
The G20 is indeed an abomination, however. I was walking through downtown Toronto last weekend, and the steel fencing and masses of idle police were stifling and offensive. Besides, it’s running the Jays out of town to Philly this weekend, which means we won’t get to see Halladay pitch again until at least next season, barring a World Series meeting. Bastards.
Carney // Jun 22, 2010 at 12:27 am
Don’t blame the G20 for the steel fencing and police; blame the “anti-capitalist”, anarchist, and other enemies of sanity and civilization who like to go on the rampage.
sinz54 // Jun 22, 2010 at 10:54 am
Frum:
No.
Negotiation is often a personal contact sport. You can tell a lot about a person from the way they look, the way they act, even the way they smell. The rituals of cocktails and dinner give off subtle signals.
When the U.S. negotiates with a foreign power, it’s very much like a man and woman on a date: They’re feeling each other out (initially not literally!), trying to figure out if it’s worth continuing the relationship.
And so far at least, dating isn’t done best by videoconference.