Where they stand matters for the elite club

A group photo of G7 leaders at Carbis Bay in Cornwall, in the southwest of England, has attracted global attention for the order in which they are standing.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is standing in the middle, which is understandable, he being the host. He is flocked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on one side and US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the other. That might not be intentional, but the fact remains that the United Kingdom treats European countries differently from the way it treats the United States and Canada.

Besides, the UK and the US recently signed the New Atlantic Charter, which highlights the two leaders’ ambition to shape the global order. While Biden wants to tell the world that “America is back”, Johnson wants to showcase his “Global Britain”.

France and Germany are two core members of the European Union, powers that the UK has tried hard to contain throughout history. As former British colonies, the US and Canada share deep cultural bonds with the UK and there have always been calls for the UK to bridge North America and Europe. However, after Brexit, the English Channel looks wider than the Atlantic.

As war-time prime minister Winston Churchill had done, Johnson has turned to the US and signed the New Atlantic Charter, an obvious imitation of the Atlantic Charter signed in 1941 by Churchill and then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In the photo at Carbis Bay, the leaders from Italy and Japan are standing in the second row, indicating how Italy and Japan are not core members of the G7. With them are European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, more proof of how other EU leaders always hold marginal positions in the G7.

Also, the G7 leaders are not wearing masks to a summit where vaccine production and distribution were part of the core topic.

If they are so confident about defeating the novel coronavirus outbreak, it is time they accepted there is no room for hegemony, as pursued by the US and the UK, in today’s world. The new world order hinges on diversity, equality and mutual respect.