Political changes in the West a challenge for Germany at G20 helm

Germany, the European Union's largest economy, took over the presidency of the G20 on Dec 1 and is preparing to host the group's 12th summit in Hamburg next summer, building on the results of the summit in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in September.

Germany has already signaled it will expand the G20 agenda by focusing more on African development, climate change, the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, healthcare and digitalization. This is an encouraging trend.

However, looking carefully at the political landscape in the West it seems the rich countries may once again play a disruptive role in the G20 process.