ASPI Experts on G20, Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting in Atlanta

As G20 foreign ministers meet in Atlanta, with top diplomats of Australia, Japan, India, and the United States scheduled to meet on the sidelines, ASPI experts share their expectations for the meetings. 
Emma Chanlett-Avery — Senior Director of Political-Security Affairs, ASPI
The long-awaited Quad leaders meeting will be welcome news to Tokyo, Canberra, and Delhi. Together with President Trump's state visit to the Philippines, this feels like a nod to traditional U.S. allies and partners in the region as a layover en route to APEC.
The downside is that it could be overshadowed by a potential trilateral summit with Trump, Putin, and Xi just a day later, presenting a very different vision of a world order dominated by authoritarian leaders. Taken together, it could portray a schizophrenic image of U.S. global leadership. 
Farwa Aamer — Director of South Asia Initiatives, ASPI
The active movement on the Quad is welcome progress. Despite the bilateral trust issues that have seeped in over the past year, particularly between India and the United States, the Quad is that one vehicle where you see officials still championing alignment on the Indo-Pacific, supply chains, and economic security.
As the foreign ministers meet, they are expected to lay the groundwork for the long-stalled leaders’ summit in Manila next month. All of these convey positive signals, add some much-needed political weight to the grouping, and may help advance its action-oriented agenda. It may, however, remain more of an optics game. But in any case, we are already seeing much of what the Quad has on its agenda being worked out bilaterally between its members. With or without the Quad branding, the members are moving forward on these priorities, from critical minerals to energy issues.
The G20 foreign ministers meeting also comes at a sensitive time with the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Focus is expected to be largely on energy security, supply chains, global economic issues, and security challenges. But while all members are invested in those, they are not necessarily coming from the same vantage point.
There is a trust deficit. The E.U. will not be aligned on any further Russia accommodation by the United States. And, any further escalation in the U.S.-Iran war will hurt all economies even more so there is a bit of a self-contradiction in the agenda. Though cracks in the bloc are not as apparent as those in other groupings like BRICS, the G20 is no longer as cohesive.