December 2018 - U.S.-China relations and upheaval in Latin America were among the challenges at G20

December 10, 2019

U.S.-China relations and upheaval in Latin America were among the challenges at G20

As leaders of the world’s biggest economies gathered in Buenos Aires for the G20 summit, experts at Johns Hopkins SAIS discussed the potential for a U.S.-China trade deal and the political and economic challenges facing Latin American nations.

Host country Argentina had its plans disrupted by major financial volatility, according to Adjunct Lecturer of Latin American Studies Benjamin N. Gedan, who told Financial Times Argentina would be satisfied with a “banal and forgettable” forum and “frankly, given how disruptive U.S. policy is these days, their hope is similar now – that the G20 just survives.” Read more

Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs Vali Nasr told The New York Times that in previous global meetings President Trump focused on undermining the global agenda rather than affirming the U.S.’s role in defining it, “but in this one, with the exception of his working dinner with Xi, he is not even doing the key bilateral meetings.” Read more

As U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to reenter contentious trade negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Assistant Professor of International Political Economy Ling Chen told Al Jazeera “there will probably be a temporal pause of the trade war immediately after the G20 meeting, but I don't think the trade war will come to a stop.” Read more

The summit coincided with political and economic upheaval, as noted by Riordan Roett Chair in Latin American Studies Monica de Bolle who told the Associated Press “Brazil will be focused more on relations with the U.S. and less on regional integration with Mexico or the South American trade bloc Mercosur.” Read more

The Brief highlights Johns Hopkins SAIS expertise on current events and is produced monthly by the Office of Marketing and Communications.