CIGI Commentaries

Does it make sense to speak of Russia as an “emerging donor”? At first glance — not really.

In 2008-2009, when confronted by the gravest global economic crisis in 80 years, G20 governments and their central banks responded promptly and appropriately by providing ample liquidity to financial markets, avoiding pro-cyclical fiscal policies and resisting protectionist trade measures that would invite retaliation.

The recent ministerial meeting held in Geneva in December, demonstrated that while the Doha Round may be dead, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is resilient, but changed as an organization. In fact, the meeting surprised many hardened observers by producing some tangible deliverables .

It may be a new year, but Europe faces the same malaise that plagued it in 2011. And, with the application of the same policy prescriptions, the prognosis, sadly, is unchanged.

A quarter of a century ago, the Brundtland Commission outlined the concept of sustainable development for the first time. It began its rather sobering report with the memorable phrase, “The Earth is one but the world is not,” to describe the interactions between the world’s environmental and economic and political systems. Sustainable development was to provide a new paradigm for economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability.

As the world’s political and business leaders head home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is right asking which of the world’s toughest challenges were identified, let alone solved, on the “Magic Mountain.” Timely, then, that today the UN launches the report of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability.

Throughout two decades of climate negotiations, diplomats have invoked the phrase “common but differentiated responsibilities” — CBDR — as shorthand for the idea that while all countries need to take action on climate change, their actual responsibilities will differ, depending on how developed they are.

The Greek tragedy of sovereign debt, the overlay of a potential for regional recession, social turmoil, perceptions of structural corruption, and political theatrics and brinkmanship is all too familiar. This is reminiscent of Argentina in 2002, which remains the largest sovereign debt default in economic history. This comparison should give the Greeks some hope — after all, Argentine 10-year government bonds today are comparable to other emerging market economies and investors flocked back to Argentina. What did Argentina do and what can Greece learn from its experience?

At 10 years’ remove from the sturm und drang in American policy circles over China’s accession to the WTO, the entire episode rests more quietly. So much has happened in China, in the world economy and in US-China economic and political relations since 2001. The burning questions that surrounded discussions in the run-up to China’s accession to the WTO seem, to many observers, muted and diminished. The multi-year “phase-in” process accompanying some of China’s most far-reaching adjustments has expired.