◼ POLITICS BloombergBusinessweek August 26, 2019preparationsfortheG-8thatsomequestionedthe
country’scontinuedrelevance.
Innovationaside,somerealpolitikwaystolimit
dissentalreadyexist.AccordingtoanItalianoffi-
cial,G-7diplomatsexpecttheFrenchtoannounce
whichforeignaffairstopicswillbeontheagenda
closetothebeginningofthesummit,perhapsonly
twodaysbefore.Nofullplenarydiscussionis likely
ontrade,anda minimalrestatementofexisting
positionsis likelyonclimatechange.ShouldTrump
makeit impossibletoreacha jointposition,France,
asthehost,hastheoptionofissuingitsownstate-
mentattheendofthemeeting.
Formaldiplomacyhasalwaysbeena complicated
dance,whichmayposea problemmorefunda-
mentalthanthosecreatedbychaos-lovingnation-
alists.WithorwithoutTrump,theG-7is alreadytoo
slowfora worldthatwillhavefullydigestedwhat-
evernewscomesoutofit bythetimeeverybody
getshome.ThetalksamongSherpashavealmost
alwaysbeentortuous—thesummitinJapanwasless
theexceptionthananextremeexampleoftherule.
Muchaswithfusioncuisine,theresultis usuallyan
unhappycompromisedesignedtopleasethetastes
ofallthatultimatelysatisfiesnoone.�TimRoss,
GregoryViscusi,ArneDelfs,withJohnFollainA Bitter Pill for
Democrats on
Health Care
32
THEBOTTOMLINE Internationalsummitrymaybemostly
symbolic,butthesymbolismis farfromempty,andsomepowerful
leadersarewonderingwhatwe’ddowithoutit.● Even their most moderate proposals aren’t likely
to get past a hostile industryDemocrats are engaged in a vigorous debate about
how to achieve their goal of universal health-care
coverage. Moderates such as Joe Biden want to
enhance the existing Affordable Care Act with a
“public option.” Progressives like Bernie Sanders
and Elizabeth Warren want to junk private insur-
ance and set up a “Medicare for All” system. But
looming in front of the discussion is an obstacleMerkelalsoinsistedthatreachinga commonfinal
declaration,however weak the language might be,
still ought to be paramount.
Trump isn’t alone in turning international diplo-
macy into a stage for political posturing, complete
with a global audience and background leaders to
populate the scenery. Chinese leaders, for instance,
have been frequent spoilers. Since Trump took
office, however, his bilateral meetings have occupied
center stage. Before the G-20, his anticipated meet-
ing with China’s Xi Jinping dominated press cover-
age. In all, Trump held eight one-on-one meetings in
Osaka, including with Putin; Erdogan; Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, still under a cloud
after being accused of orchestrating the murder of
critic Jamal Khashoggi; and Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro, a gun-loving ex-military leader regarded
as the Trump of South America.
In Biarritz, the marquee event will be Trump’s
meeting with the group’s latest populist entrant,
Boris Johnson. Since he became Britain’s prime
minister in July, Johnson has shown no interest in
compromising on Brexit policy with his critics in
London, let alone with his European counterparts;
he waited nearly a month after taking office to travel
for talks with the European Union’s two most power-
ful leaders, finally making a last-minute dash to Paris
and Berlin in the days before heading to Biarritz.
As a former foreign secretary, Johnson is well-
aware of the diplomatic conventions he’s defying.
The danger, says Alistair Burt, a Conservative mem-
ber of Parliament who served with Johnson in the
Foreign Office, is that the rest of the world will shift
toaccommodatethatdefianceratherthanchal-
lengeit.“Ifyoureverttoa foreignpolicywhere
‘mycountrycomesfirst,andstufftherestofyou,’”
Burt says, global leaders risk contributing to the
appeal of those who’ve succeeded at home by look-
ing tough and standing alone on the world stage.
“Size will matter, the weakest will get picked off,
and with that way forward lies more conflict, more
confrontation, and greater risks.”
Not that the global leadership has ever been
entirely without conflict, even in the days when
cooperation was a given. The G-7 used to be the
G-8, of course, until 2014, when a U.S.-led coalition
moved to suspend Russia from the group over its
annexation of Crimea. Later that year, Australia’s
then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott borrowed a term
for an aggressive challenge in Australian football and
vowed to “shirtfront” Putin at that year’s G-20, after
pro-Russian rebels in Crimea shot down a Malaysia
Airlines plane carrying some Australian citizens.
(He didn’t, but Putin nevertheless found himself
isolated.) Years earlier, in 2009, Italy so bungled“Size will
matter, the
weakest will
get picked
off, and with
that way
forward lies
more conflict”