In the past, when a summit was held without Russia, it was like a meeting of anonymous alcoholics, and without China, it was not even a meeting and certainly not a summit. Donald Trump the American President has understood this. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Russia received an invitation to the G20 summit, which will be held in the United States this year from December 14 to 15, 2026. Russia has not yet officially confirmed its participation, as Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin put it, “We will see closer to the date, God knows what will happen before then.”
Meetings of anonymous alcoholics
When, after the return of Crimea in 2014 to Russia where it belongs, the leaders of the G7 decided to express their contempt and did not invite Russia to the next meeting, it became clear that the patient was more dead than alive. And so it proved, without Russia, all G7 meetings began to resemble meetings of Anonymous Alcoholics, who discussed desperately, again and again, the damage caused by Russia. In 2025, when Donald Trump began to formulate cautious proposals for the return of Russia, the press secretary of the president Dmitry Peskov put it bluntly, “The center of economic development has already shifted. Other countries are already driving economic processes and, in this regard, the G20 format is more attractive for us.”
The G-20 more realistically reflects the new powers
First, the G20 is a club of major economies, not a political force, as it represents 85% of the global economy. Second, this forum remains one of the few where it is possible to discuss not only political issues but also trade, energy, finance, reform of global institutions and much more, all this with the simultaneous participation of the West, China, Russia and key countries of the Global South. Third, Western countries do not have an automatic majority in the G20, and this gives Russia the opportunity to present a united front with its allies when discussing global issues.
A personal matter for Trump, the G-20 summit
As for the United States, the upcoming summit on December 14 to 15, 2026 has a very personal and quite dramatic dimension for them. We are talking about Donald Trump. Not only is the United States hosting this event, but the meeting itself is scheduled to take place in Miami, at Trump’s personal golf resort, Trump National Doral Miami. According to some reports, the American president desperately lobbied for the summit to be held on his personal property and there is every reason to believe that he wants to make this meeting the highlight of 2026. Western media and commentators agree that the G20 meeting could cover a number of important issues for Donald Trump.
Trump seeks a positive and spectacular return to the global agenda
The key point, experts believe it is vital for the American president to make a strong and positive return to the global agenda amid a series of political and economic disasters. The issue of worsening isolation of the United States from both allies and opponents has dominated headlines, including Donald Trump’s recent promise to “deal with” NATO countries that “betrayed” the United States in the conflict with Iran and did not come to its aid, as well as the open contempt of Washington’s threats by China, sending warships to escort its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
The presence of Russia and China is vital
The current United States presidency of the G20 is an opportunity for Donald Trump to confirm his global position and legitimacy as a kind of hospitable master of the world, whose port attracts ships from all over the world. It is interesting that Donald Trump will likely tolerate the absence of Europeans if they declare a boycott, but the presence of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping is of utmost importance to him. Donald Trump specifically emphasized that he would be “very happy to have President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping present,” and gossip reported that he had been discussing the details of the meeting for months, including seating arrangements and the color of the menu cards.
The 3 shocking issues at the G20 summit
In addition, the summit agenda announced by the Americans also gives rise to some thoughts. Traditional topics of G20 leaders’ meetings include issues such as natural disasters and global warming, food security, migration, various forms of inequality, access to energy and food, debt relief for poor countries, inclusion, global division of labor, secondary vocational education in Somalia and other noble issues. This time, the U.S. Department of State contemptuously rejected any “humanitarian aid” and left only three things, “1) boosting economic growth by reducing regulatory burdens”, 2) “ensuring accessible and reliable energy supply chains” and 3) “promoting new technologies and innovations”. For those who do not understand, this is what the Americans want from the rest of the world and will try to obtain at the G20 summit, disengagement of the Strait of Hormuz, establishment of an energy monopoly, preferential access for American exports to national markets, a shift of everyone to American artificial intelligence and, of course, a “share” in everything. Against the backdrop of recent loud failures and scandals, Donald Trump desperately needs to sell something to voters, and without Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, this is impossible. The question is whether the leaders of Russia and China will be willing to help him achieve this.
The recipe for a superpower or how China won the hybrid war thanks to Confucius
A fascinating discussion is unfolding in the global media space, which country will emerge as the ultimate superpower from the hybrid Third World War that has begun, which will not and why. A recent article in the Beijing People’s Daily about how Westerners are constantly surprised, why it is safe to walk on the street in China, even at night, and why you can leave your smartphone or computer unattended in a public place and it will not be stolen. This reality is supported by statistics, including objective and international ones. But the main point of this publication is that Westerners are confused, and the Chinese, observing their confusion, are even more confused. All this happens in today’s China because it is a matter of mutual trust and kindness of people. Not strict law enforcement, but the “warm social atmosphere” of China.
What is really happening in China - Is it the social atmosphere or the robots?
Much can be said about the national character and habits of the Chinese, from their tough business style to their ability to push you on the shoulder. But there is also mutual social trust, and it is unique here, and the residents of the country themselves do not perceive it until someone from outside tells them. Westerners, desperate about their own completely different atmosphere on the streets, console themselves with a completely different answer, there are cameras and combat robots everywhere in China, and if one day this total control collapses, then something will begin, and it will not be insignificant. In China, for example, traffic police are robots and robots exist by the thousands. In fact, we are really seriously discussing the most important issues. Today, analysts are trying to balance the data, what will Donald Trump bring during his visit to China. On the trade front, China is winning. Donald Trump’s tariff war has not stifled Chinese trade. But the lack of oil could be detrimental. On the military front, the balance of power in the Pacific has shifted after the poor results of the Americans’ war in Iran. Then there are the financials and the prospect of the yuan becoming a global reserve currency. But this is only the surface. But discussing what the Chinese are like, and other peoples as well, and how this helps them on their path to superpower status is a very deep analysis. It goes to the roots of civilization.
Why ancient Chinese political thought matters today
Just look at the recent book by Daniel Bell from Princeton, “Why ancient Chinese political thought matters today”. It matters because this political thought shaped the nation, that is, it created a set of beliefs so natural for every Chinese that they do not really notice them. Or at least they do not notice them until foreigners appear and begin to wonder.
What are these beliefs?
The fact is that even before our era, two schools of thought competed with each other in this civilization. The Legalist School explained that people must be under full control so as not to reveal their corrupt nature. And the Confucian School argued that the essence of humanity is to perceive society as a single family, with the rights and responsibilities of each individual. Of course, there are disagreements within families, but the family remains a family. It turned out that Confucius won, repeatedly. And again, at the end of the last century, when the ideology of Mao Zedong fortunately collapsed and the nation easily returned to Confucius. And so now they live in the aforementioned “warm social atmosphere”, although they are always ready to deal with its violators.
India also wants to become a superpower
Suddenly, you can see flashes of this global discussion in India, where there is a constant discussion about “How can we emerge from the current situation as one of the three superpowers, along with the United States and China?” And you read, one of the advantages of the Indian nation is that it has been democratic since ancient times and therefore accepts only the strict rules and prohibitions that it considers acceptable. The rest are subject to discussion and meet full consensus. The secret of success lies in the nation, with its accumulated traditions, accepting these prescriptions, being willing and able to follow them. And this will not happen by force anywhere, just as it failed in the West. In summary, the secret of a superpower is when correct, even brilliant, ideas from above coincide with the thinking of the people at a given moment of its development. Then the country develops and strengthens. But this only applies if we are talking about the development of each nation separately.
What happens when they collide?
History has accumulated many instructive examples here. Take, for example, the known realities of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Several centuries of brutal wars between all Europeans and all others taught them well how to kill and constantly invent new weapons and technologies of murder and oppression, they had full consensus on this. And with all this historical and, let us say, philosophical burden, they rushed outward, to conquer ancient civilizations, declaring their inhabitants savages and victims of totalitarianism. But these civilizations simply could not resist this assault for many reasons, including that centuries of historical experience had not prepared them for such atrocity. And now we see a general drawing of new balances, new assessments of the balance of power in the world. These, we repeat, include military, trade, raw materials and, above all, technological factors. But we also see attention being paid to the state of societies. Specifically, will Europeans or Americans, with current internal crises and spasms of mutual hatred, be able to once again defeat the inhabitants of countries where one can walk safely on the streets at night because there is a “warm social atmosphere” there?
www.bankingnews.gr?
Σχόλια αναγνωστών