This session is curated by Colin Bradford, Fellow, Global Solutions Initiative.
The confrontational narratives between the United States and China undermine opportunities and imperatives for constructive competition and collaboration.??They threaten to create a world divided into two blocs and to overwhelm global cooperation and multilateralism, at a crucial moment. ??The time has come to create new political dynamics based on complexity and nuance rather than polemics.
The China-West Dialogue (CWD) has involved over fifty people from a dozen nation in seventeen sessions over the last two years and is based on working with China rather than talking about China in minilateral groupings like the G7 and the Quad. The China-West Dialogue seeks to replace the toxic bilateral confrontation by pluralizing it into China-West relations which involves fundamentally different political dynamics by including multiple narratives, cultural diversity, pluralistic discourses, plurilateral leadership and pragmatic exchanges devoid of ideological content. It has worked.
In this GSS2022 Working Session, we propose to present in staccato fashion viewpoints from multiple vantage points which illustrate the new dynamics at work in the CWD and to demonstrate that they could work in official deliberations, given the appropriate setting. That setting we think is the G20, and not just the G20 summit once a year but more importantly the thick schedule of G20 ministerial, working groups, task forces and Sherpa meetings. These provide opportunities for focused, substantive, professional engagement of officials from 19 countries over time to work together toward conclusive results, with China and the United States fully involved.
Speakers: Kerry Brown, Markus Engels, Susan Thorton, Chen Dongxiao, Ryan Hass, Henry (Huiyao) Wang
Moderator: Colin Bradford
