G20 : Purpose of the Group and Russia’s Role!

If we look at world history from an impartial and realistic perspective, the truth is that world history is generally full of wars and conflicts. The most devastating and severe of them are the two major world wars which caused the death of millions of people. The dominant powers of the world which fought each other in world wars then came together and took some steps to solve conflict issues and prevent war which would lead to millions of people. In this context, the aim of international organizations (such as G7 and G20) established after the Second World War is to prevent the world from entering into major wars again.

At this point, international organisations such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the United Nations and the IMF were established to regulate and develop world trade, political, economic and social relations.

In line with that we can say that G7 and G8, which are considered the ancestors of G20 which is our topic today, were actually established much later to serve these purposes.

Occasionally, we see in the news that the leaders of the G20 countries are meeting or the results of the union summit will be influential. Sometimes we even watch activists protesting outside during the leaders’ summit. At this point, we devoted this article to these summits subject to increase our general culture to be aware of what is happening in the world and for our personal development.

What is G20?

As we just mentioned, G20 is an international organization established with the participation of 19 of the world’s most developed industrialized countries and European Union. In addition of that one of the most important reasons of establishing the group was to regulate and increase the stability and cooperation of the international financial system. Founded in 1999, it could be said that G20 is the extended version of G7. In this concept if we say that these countries constitute approximately 70 percent of the world’s population, we can better understand the importance of the relevant group. In addition, the group countries account for approximately 76 percent of the world’s total trade and approximately 84 percent of the world economy. This information alone shows what summits mean to the world and how important they are.

G20 Countries are;

G20 stand for What?

The letter G at the beginning of G20 represents the word “Group” in English. However, in order to understand the group deeply, we first need to take a look at the G7 concept. Countries representing the 7 most developed and industrialized economies of the world came together in 1976 and established the G7 organization. The idea of establishing a new international organization emerged with the idea that the Bretton Woods system, established after the Second World War, was not working efficiently enough and could not fulfil its duty. In this context, the group of 7 organization, established in 1976, has carried out very productive activities. The countries in the G7 at that time were; USA, Germany, France, Canada, England, Italy and Japan.

Then, the G8 was formed in 1998 when Russia joined these countries and represented the dialogue. These countries come together at certain times to discuss and make decisions on important issues. In this context, G7 countries met in Japan in May 2023.

At the summit, which takes place every year, problems on a global scale are generally discussed. Therefore, issues such as inequality and injustice in income distribution, climate crisis in the context of global warming, poverty and the development of international trade are discussed at G20 summits. Meanwhile, it is necessary to mention the special position of Spain. Although Spain is one of the 20 most developed countries, it is not a group member and attends the summit every year as a guest participant.

Has Russia left Group?

Russia is one of the important members of the G20 organization. Although some problems occur from time to time due to political debates and tensions, Russia is still one of the G20 member countries as of 2024. However, in such tense periods, Russia does not participate in the Leaders Summit at the head of state level. This behaviour, which can be described as a kind of protest or reaction, is sometimes shown by other countries that are against the Western bloc, such as China. In this context, Russian Leader Putin did not attend the summit held in India in September 2023. At this summit, Russia was represented at the level of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

For the official web page of group you can click.

Results of 2023 Summit?

At the 2023 G20 meeting, where China and Russia did not participate at the leadership level, the climate crisis, climate changes and the differences in development levels between countries were discussed. In addition, during the summit, one-on-one meetings are held between countries and their leaders. Moreover, relations between these countries are also discussed in the one-on-one meetings. The Leaders’ Conclusion Declaration is published at the end of the Leaders Summit held every year. Recently, in line with the world agenda, emphasis has been placed on climate and refugee issues rather than financial issues. In the 2023 final declaration, Russia was implicitly condemned without naming it, with the statement that no country should invade another country by force of arms.

In addition, in the summit results where climate change and global warming were emphasized, the grain corridor and refugee crisis were also emphasized. On the other hand, thousands of people protest the summits of these industrialized and developed countries every year. Protesters protest by stating that these summit countries pollute the world and that these countries are actually the cause of international income inequality.

Where will be G20 in 2024?

After the summit held in New Delhi, India, all eyes turned to the 2024 summit. The fact that Russia was not publicly condemned by naming it attracted Ukraine’s reaction and caused it to state that it had lost its hopes for 2024. On the other hand, another issue that left its mark on the summit was India changing its name to “Bharat”. In addition, the lack of progress in fuel consumption and fossil fuels has negatively affected the expectations for 2024. Accordingly, the G20 summit will meet in Brazil in July 2024.

In this context, let’s not forget that senior managers constantly follow the world agenda in terms of career development. Additionally, the decisions taken by the relevant group and the actions it supports have serious political and economic consequences all over the world, especially in developing countries.