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Abstract
There is a growing consensus that the international system needs to be reformed to reflect the changing distribution of power with the rise of the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs). The Group of Twenty (G20) has been at the centre of these discussions. Within the G20, emphasis has been on great powers or rising powers and their capacity to drive reform. Less attention has been given to the preferences and strategies of middle powers in the G20 and their capacity to shape global governance reform. Drawing on interviews with G20 officials, this paper considers the role of Australia as president of the G20 in 2014. Australia’s presidency presents a unique opportunity to examine the behaviour of a middle power as it balances the competing global governance claims of the USA and the BRICs.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the G20 officials who generously agreed to be interviewed for this project. I would also like to thank Will Clapton, Larry Crump, John Kirton, Kim Nossal and the anonymous reviewers for their ideas and feedback. Sophie Adams also provided excellent research assistance.
Notes
1. Weiss and Wilkinson, “Rethinking Global Governance?”; and Finnemore, “Dynamics of Global Governance.”
2. Cooper and Alexandroff, “Introduction.”
3. Nye, Future of Power, chap. 6.
4. Stephen, “Rising Powers, Global Capitalism.”
5. Stewart, “Irresponsible Stakeholders?”
6. Kahler, “Rising Powers and Global Governance”; and Downie, “Global Energy Governance.”
7. Cooper et al., Relocating Middle Powers; and Kirton and Kulik, “Systemically Significant Entrepreneurship.”
8. Carr, “Is Australia a Middle Power?”
9. Cooper and Flemes, “Foreign Policy Strategies.”
10. Cooper, “Squeezed or Revitalised?”
11. Lake, “State and International Relations.”
12. Carr, “Is Australia a Middle Power?”; and Wesley, “Rich Tradition of Australian Realism.”
13. Carr, “Is Australia a Middle Power?,” 72; and Wilkins, “Australia: A Traditional Middle Power.”
14. Ravenhill, “Cycles of Middle Power Activism,” 323.
15. Cooper et al., Relocating Middle Powers, 19; and Cooper, “Challenging Contemporary Notions.”
16. Nye, Soft Power.
17. Cooper et al., Relocating Middle Powers.
18. Ibid.
19. Higgott and Cooper, “Middle Power Leadership.”
20. Gilley and Brown, Middle Powers; Cooper, “MIKTA and the Global Projection”; and Saxer, “Capabilities and Aspirations.”
21. Mo, Middle Powers and G20 Governance; Cooper and Thakur, Group of Twenty (G20); and Cooper, “Squeezed or Revitalised?”
22. Hajnal, G20: Evolution, Interrelationships, Documentation; and Kirton, G20 Governance for a Globalised World.
23. Slaughter, “Debating the International Legitimacy.”
24. Alexandroff and Cooper, “Conclusion,” 296.
25. Australian Government, G20 2014: Overview of Australia's Presidency.
26. Interview 18.
27. Australian Government, G20 2014: Overview of Australia's Presidency.
28. Wilkins, “Australia: A Traditional Middle Power,” 151; and Cooper, “MIKTA and the Global Projection,” 110.
29. See, for example, Sebenius, “Negotiation Analysis”; and Moravcsik, “Taking Preferences Seriously.”
30. See, for example, Ikenberry and Mo, Rise of Korean Leadership.
31. de Brouwer, “Asian Century.”
32. Interview 4.
33. Interview 11.
34. Interviews 3 and 11.
35. Stewart, “Irresponsible Stakeholders?”
36. Zoellick, “Whither China.”
37. Interviews 3 and 17.
38. Interviews 11 and 17.
39. Interview 17.
40. Cooper, “MIKTA and the Global Projection,” 100.
41. Interview 19.
42. Interview 20.
43. Higgott and Cooper, “Middle Power Leadership,” 615.
44. Interview 12.
45. Interviews 1 and 18.
46. Moravcsik, “Taking Preferences Seriously.”
47. Cooper et al., Relocating Middle Powers, 5.
48. Interview 1. In 2011, Obama announced that 2500 US marines would be permanently stationed in Darwin in northern Australia, a move that was questioned by Chinese officials and analysts; see Hartcher, “Obama to Announce US Marine Base in Darwin”; and McDonell and Brown, “China, Indonesia Wary of US Troops.”
49. Saxer, “Capabilities and Aspirations,” 408.
50. Interview 11.
51. Downie, “Global Energy Governance.”
52. Interview 3.
53. G20, G20 Principles on Energy Collaboration.
54. Interviews 3, 5 and 6.
55. Callaghan, “Banning Putin from the G20.”
56. Kehoe, “Heat on Abbott.”
57. Bourke, “G20 summit: Barack Obama.”
58. Interview 9.
59. G20, G20 Principles on Energy Collaboration.
60. “Remarks by President Obama at G20 Press Conference.”
61. Saxer, “Capabilities and Aspirations,” 408.
62. Interview 7.
63. BRICS, BRICS Partnership for Global Stability.
64. de Brouwer, “The Asian century and the G20.”
65. Interview 16.
66. Interview 11.
67. Stuenkel, “Financial Crisis, Contested Legitimacy.”
68. “Joe Hockey blasts US.”
69. The finance ministers’ communiqué stated, ‘We deeply regret that the IMF quota and governance reforms agreed to in 2010 have not yet become effective and that the 15th General Review of Quotas was not completed by January 2014. Our highest priority remains ratifying the 2010 reforms, and we urge the US to do so before our next meeting in April’. See G20 Finance Ministers.
70. Downie, “Global Energy Governance.”
71. Interview 5.
72. Interviews 14, 15 and 19.
73. G20, G20 Leaders’ Communiqué; G20 Finance Ministers.
74. Interview 11.
75. Interview 7.
76. Interview 12.
77. Interview 9.
78. de Brouwer, “Asian century and the G20.”
79. Interview 14.
80. “Press Release Regarding the MIKTA Initiative.”
81. “Concluding G20 Sherpas’ Meeting.”
82. Cooper and Thakur, Group of Twenty (G20), 113.
83. Saxer, “Capabilities and Aspirations,” 407.
84. Interviews.
85. Interviews 6 and 9.
86. Interviews 11, 13 and 14. In January 2014, Prime Minister Abbott stated that ‘Australia’s aim is a communiqué just three pages long’; see “Address to the World Economic Forum.”
87. Interview 15.
88. “Tony Abbott Warns G20.”
89. Callaghan, “Relaunching the G20.”
90. Interview 17.
91. Interview 12.
92. Interviews.