Quad Leaders Face Pivotal Chance to Renew Relevance Beyond a GINO
Member Activities

Quad Leaders Face Pivotal Chance to Renew Relevance Beyond a GINO

THE STRATEGIST

APLN member Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan co-writes a commentary with Justin Bassi on the upcoming Quad leaders meeting, highlighting the opportunity to renew its relevance and transform it into more than a GINO — a grouping in name only.

The role of Quad leaders—particularly for both US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who should aim to leave a legacy from their last Quad meeting—is to ensure such minilateral groups are effective until the multilateral system repairs itself—or regrettably in the event that it doesn’t.

As Quad leaders and foreign ministers head to UNGA after the meeting, they owe a message to the UN and multilateral bodies—do not fear China and Russia to the extent that lets them reshape international institutions to tolerate their own persistent breaches of international rules and norms.

After Quad 2.0 was launched, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi famously referred to the Quad as nothing more than ‘sea foam’, suggesting it would break up and dissipate—one half of its dubious narrative couplet that the Quad was an Asian NATO and hence provocative, yet at the same time ineffectual.

Recognising that total breakup is unlikely, Beijing is this time determined to render it a GINO. Sea foam, of course, can also be light, airy and insubstantial. As Quad leaders gather, they must seize the chance to reinject weight and substance, and give this minilateral grouping the power of a rising tide of co-operation towards a more secure and stable region.

Read the full article here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons