What Donald Trump Has Right About The G7

-Analysis-

PARIS — U.S. President Donald Trump may have had a very good reason for rushing back to the White House and missing the end of the G7 Summit in Canada. The outcome of the war in Iran will tell us later. But his hasty departure also has a symbolic dimension, revealing the state of the world.

The G7 represents everything the American president hates: You have to negotiate with smaller countries, sign worthless joint declarations and pretend, if only for the time of a photo, that you’re a “family.” In short, multilateralism, the art of collectively managing the world’s affairs, is the enemy.

This is nothing new; Trump had already made a similar scene in 2018 (also in Canada!), dissenting from the final declaration he had just signed.

Among his grievances was the exclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the G8 after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. He made that point again this year: It was even the first thing he said on the first day, probably because he considers Putin more worthy of sitting next to him than those Europeans for whom he has nothing but contempt.

The question is actually relevant: does the G7 still have any real purpose? This is the great paradox: Trump doesn’t like the G7 because he only believes in himself, and in America’s power. But he’s pointing out a reality: The G7 has become an empty shell, reflecting the collapse of global governance — just look at the UN’s total absence in the Israel-Iran war. It’s now all about playing to strengths.

The collapse of global governance

The G7 has certainly reached the end of its days. Take a look: When it was created in 1976, it was the club of the most industrialized countries, representing 85% of the world’s wealth. Today, this figure is around 30%: Other countries have climbed up the world rankings, such as China, which is not invited because it is considered undemocratic.

The G7 was originally set up to coordinate economic policies, but has gradually been transformed into a Western directorate of the world. Those days are gone. The political West has lost weight and coherence, as emerging countries have become more assertive in the post-Cold War era.

“The West is losing its grip, everyone is realizing it,” admits a leader of a major Western country, for whom Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement is primarily “a cry of nostalgia” for a bygone era.

A new era

In today’s world, there are two options: One is that of Donald Trump, who swears by America’s strength alone, disregarding its alliances; the second is that of China and its parallel institutions, the emerging BRICS, or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for security.

A world organization based on the old Western domination is no longer legitimate.

Maybe we need to imagine a third path: a post-Western one, because a world organization based on the old Western domination is no longer legitimate; a more egalitarian one, without superpowers imposing their law. Needless to say, this is not the direction the world is taking today, with the return of brutal force.

This is what Europe could propose, through new partnerships with countries that do not necessarily wish to align themselves with Beijing or Washington. We’re still a long way off, of course, with these multiple ongoing wars that turn their backs on international law.

In the meantime, the G7 ritual continues next year in Evian, France, unaware that it has become obsolete.