Has there always been a US delegation to the XF? I remember mentioning it when drafting my regional architecture book thinking it was an SLD wannabe and won't last long, but here we are a decade later still writing about it!
On GGI, initial responses to it remind me of how most Asian and Western governments responded to the the AIIB. In the end, AIIB ended up not being such a bad thing. It also doesn't carry the same weight as existing multilateral development banks like WB, IMF, ADB (but curious if that's the impression in the developing world too). I assume reception to GGI will be similar to the AIIB. That said, global governance seems much more fractured than it did in the early 2010s so perhaps my own DC-centric biases will be proven wrong.
I believe the US has consistently sent a delegation to XF, though I wish I had verified the same for this year before using this anecdote in a recent presentation to show how these multilateral defense fora can still be inclusive even if China is inconsistent in sending its own reps to the SLD. So I guess the great powers are each scaling back participation in groupings organized by the other (even if SLD is technically in Singapore).
Has there always been a US delegation to the XF? I remember mentioning it when drafting my regional architecture book thinking it was an SLD wannabe and won't last long, but here we are a decade later still writing about it!
On GGI, initial responses to it remind me of how most Asian and Western governments responded to the the AIIB. In the end, AIIB ended up not being such a bad thing. It also doesn't carry the same weight as existing multilateral development banks like WB, IMF, ADB (but curious if that's the impression in the developing world too). I assume reception to GGI will be similar to the AIIB. That said, global governance seems much more fractured than it did in the early 2010s so perhaps my own DC-centric biases will be proven wrong.
I believe the US has consistently sent a delegation to XF, though I wish I had verified the same for this year before using this anecdote in a recent presentation to show how these multilateral defense fora can still be inclusive even if China is inconsistent in sending its own reps to the SLD. So I guess the great powers are each scaling back participation in groupings organized by the other (even if SLD is technically in Singapore).
Great piece, Van. Very well balanced on the merits and self-serving (even destabilizing) aspects of China's GGI and the Xiangshan Forum.