The American Delegation to the G20 Was Sent Walking Empty-Handed
By: Christopher Maffei
In many ways, the G20 used to be the sanctuary for the typical Whac-a-Mole politicians that were moving up in the American empire.
And over time, the G20 could even be a route for American officials to browbeat, berate, blackmail, sanction, and threaten the members into a US rules-based dollar-denominated order. Everything from energy trade to tax policy.
In foreign policy circles today, people like Antony Blinken seem to be the less deranged versions of John Bolton. Political potted plants behind which authoritarians rule by witch hunts and moral mania. All of them seemingly float on a cloud of media protection as they move along.
The clouds seem to be dissipating though.
At the G20 in Bali this year, the buzz around the campfire was not so much about Russia being sanctioned. But, rather how the members could join the BRICS+ and ditch the dollar. In many ways, I can somehow imagine Salman Al Saud stuffing his face with Couscous. Then whispering to Lavrov,― “for god’s sake man don’t leave us out”
If you really think about it, the G20 was not really a G meeting at all. It was a gathering about how the BRICS is going to move forward without Washington. It was more or less a BRICS workshop on the replacement of the dollar and what basket of currencies was going to replace it.
As this cringefest moved metaphorically astride an Indonesian volcano that is peppered with palm trees and coconuts.
The G20 was for the first time faced with Russia’s decision to launch a wholly-unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean, of Ukraine. Anyway…All of Washington’s requests for Russian sanctions were firmly rebuffed.
In the end, the Washington delegation to the G20 was sent― packing. And somewhere in the middle of Nusa Dua, Xi lectured Trudeau over a leak. But what can’t be missed, regardless of the browbeating and the bags of money behind the scenes, the BRICS did not crack.
Washington got nothing― y’all.
Sanctions or otherwise.
―Chris