When the Party’s Over
The G20 Summit in Bali, which marked the culmination and completion of Indonesia's chairmanship of the most prestigious forum of major economies, will be remembered as the most intriguing event for its member countries.
Quiet when I’m coming home
and I’m on my own
I could lie, say I like it like that,
like it like that…
Billie Eilish, “When the Party’s Over”
The 17th Group of 20 Summit in Bali in November 2022, which marked the culmination and completion of Indonesia's chairmanship of the most prestigious forum of major economies, will be remembered as the most intriguing event for its member countries.
At its inception in 1999, the G20 was specifically intended to overcome the global financial crisis, and the world recognized the movement’s breakthroughs. However, the Bali G20 Summit was held in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. Multidimensional socioeconomic and political crises (global economic recession, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war) occurred simultaneously.
Apart from the criticisms that G20 cooperation declined after the 2008-2009 crisis, it is undeniable that the forum has become an important center for governance networks and global cooperation.
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> G20 Bali Summit: What the World Says
The G20’s success in overcoming the global economic and financial crisis – after the Group of Seven had been unable to overcome it – cannot be separated from the collaborative approach inherent in the world’s largest forum.
In his remarks at the first session of the G20 Summit in Bali, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo emphasized the urgency of a collaborative paradigm and spirit to save the world.
Collaborative paradigm
"We have no other choice. A collaboration paradigm is urgently needed to save the world. We all have a responsibility not only to our society but also to everyone in the world," said Jokowi.
It was also stressed that, "Responsibility means consistently respecting international law and the principles of the UN Charter. It also means creating a win-win, not zero-sum, situation" (Kompas, 15 and 16 November 2022).
This spirit of collaboration has driven the G20 to become the center of international economic governance since its first summit in Washington in November 2008.
However, the G20 is still a loose club, its members cooperating informally on a consensual basis among a self-selected group.
According to J Luckhurst in the book G20 Since the Global Crisis (Springer, 2016), this happened "because of the strategic, ideational and political effects of the crisis", as well as the posture of the G20 forum itself.
The G20 has increased its role to become a catalyst for the reorganization of global economic governance with it involving developing countries in multilateral international economic management.
However, the G20 is still a loose club, its members cooperating informally on a consensual basis among a self-selected group. They sit together more out of common interests rather than general and normative political convergence.
Carrying the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”, Indonesia’s G20 presidency managed to issue the Leaders' Declaration during the Bali Summit, which indeed emphasizes the commitment to work together to overcome serious global problems. However, this commitment has less meaning due to the absence of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who from the beginning expected he would become the target of disparagement because of the war waged in Ukraine.
This is also indicative of group sentiment or interests potentially strongly influencing cooperation and collaboration, which is exactly what they want to put forward.
National vs group interest
For issues such as the global economic recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, consensus has proven to be easier to reach. Even for controversial issues, such as the energy transition, which provoked long debate at the 2021 Rome Summit, the spirit of compromise and collaboration was still evident in Bali.
The G20 leaders agreed on a common narrative, namely the commitment “to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by or around mid-century, taking into account the latest scientific developments and the different conditions of each country” (paragraph 11).
However, regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine, at the insistence of Western countries, the declaration document used strong narrative, such as "deplore in the strongest terms" and even "strongly condemn" (paragraph 3), although its formulation is based on UN resolutions.
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Hans Morgenthau, international relations expert from the Realist School, in the Couloumbis and Wolfe book Introduction to International Relations (Prentice Hall, 1978), states that diplomatic strategy must be based more on national interests than mere utopia and moralistic, legalistic and ideological criteria.
Collective interests cannot simply be achieved in an abstract and scientific form because they involve individual and group preferences, which are usually subjective and pluralistic.
In a world of subjective pluralism, collective interests can be equated with the will of the majority (dominant group) on the basis of a specific issue.
It needs to be understood that as soon as Indonesia officially assumed its presidency on 1 Dec., 2021, global issues began to be explored, designed, formulated, discussed, negotiated and compromised before the Bali Leaders’ Declaration was finally ratified. As a transcontinental forum, the G20 agenda practically covers all global issues.
Indonesia had gone through various meetings, starting from the level of working groups, meetings of senior officials, ministerial level meetings up to the summit in Bali. All of those led to a 17-page declaration document consisting of 52 paragraphs, with annexes of around 1,000 pages.
The declaration of a multilateral event is not a sacred document, the contents of which must be strictly obeyed and implemented by its member countries. The declaration is nothing more than a commitment expected to serve as guidance in the implementation of national policies in relation to engagement between countries in the hope that they are in line with shared aspirations.
In fact, the national interests of each country or a group of countries are not necessarily the same. Being dynamic, they may conflict with one another. Therefore, a number of multilateral events have ended without issuing a declaration, but merely a chairman's statement, such as the 2016 ASEAN Summit. Commitment does not necessarily entail a binding obligation.
‘Good boy’
As the event is over and the leaders have returned to their respective countries, they are back with their concerns about national and group interests.
Shortly after the party was over and Indonesia handed over the G20 leadership baton to India, it was discovered, as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif disclosed, that Indonesia had lost the European Union's lawsuit at the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding a ban on nickel ore exports imposed since early 2020.
The decision was taken by a WTO panel. The panel's final report was issued on 17 Oct., 2022, which came as a shock.
Indonesia is indeed known as a "good boy", even a "very good boy" in the world of international diplomacy, especially in multilateral forums.
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> Indonesia and Ukraine Resolution
Indonesia is used to getting lulled by amiable smiles and sweet words of foreign guests at international events, including the recent G20.
Indonesia is also easily duped into amazement by the expressions of praise for being a friendly, hospital and even generous nation when it comes to hosting extraordinary international events, from small ones like ASEAN to big ones like the G20, even the Non-Aligned Movement.
In the end, they are country or group of countries, with respective national or collective interests. Next year there will be another party.
The above snippet of song lyrics by Billie Eilish — a 23-year-old songwriter and singer from the United States and winner of a 2020 Grammy Award and 2022 Oscar — can serve as a reminder. So too a song by Irish singer Paul Brady with exactly the same title “After the Party’s Over”, whose lyrics go:
After the party’s over
Can a love go on?
Can a love stay strong
When the dancers are drifting apart?
The two songs are basically sending meaningful messages that after the party is over, we go back to our own business and the rest is just sweeteners and pleasantries.
Dian Wirengjurit
Dian Wirengjurit,
Geopolitical and International Relations Observer
This article was translated by Musthofid.
