The Role of China and Russia in Global Governance: The Case of the G20

Abstract

The object of the study is the policy of Russia and China on international platforms in the sphere of global governance. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of Russia's and China's policy within the framework of international associations with the example of Russian-Chinese interaction in the G20. The aim of the study is to identify common positions of Russia and China on global governance issues, as well as the role of the two countries in defining the global development agenda and solving pressing problems of the international community. The author analyses the dynamics of interaction between Russia and China within the framework of the G20 summits from 2008 to 2022 and the changing approaches of the two countries to global governance and the vision of a new international order, as well as identifies the place of the two countries in the formation of a new agenda for the development of cooperation within the G20. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the paper attempts to conceptualise Russian-Chinese cooperation within the G20 from the perspective of shaping a non-Western discourse on the new international order. The study analyses the significance of such global challenges as the 2008 financial crisis, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the worsening of the Ukrainian crisis in 2022 for the G20 and Russian-Chinese cooperation within this association. The study concludes that during the 2008-2022 period, the G20 has witnessed a trend of strengthening the voice of developing states, primarily Russia and China, which has actualised the agenda of inclusiveness and multipolarity as the basis of a new international order. However, as a result of these global challenges, there is a threat of antagonism between Western and non-Western approaches to global governance, which calls into question the current potential of the G20 to achieve consensus on key international issues.