On November 15 and 16 G-20 was held in Brisbane Australia.  G20 started in 1999 for Finance Ministers after the Asian Financial Crisis.  Later in 2008, when the world-wide recession hit, the first G-20 Leaders’ Summit was held.  Their job was to respond to the global financial crisis.  The G-20 consists of twenty of the strongest economical countries who meet to discuss world wide economic problems.  In addition, those countries who continue to contribute at the previous summits are re-invited.  Furthermore, some countries that fit the mold of the discussion of ideas that are brought up may be invited as well even though they don’t fit the above-mentioned criteria for attending. For example, one of the issues the conference will discuss this year is empowering development, so Senegal and other developing countries were invited.

This conference was a little more interesting than others in the past, particularly because of recent global unrest. Earlier this year, Russia invaded Ukraine sparking worldwide outrage and tension. The United States then led the charge to put economic sanctions on Russia as a punitive measure to hurt their economy.  Also, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated numerous times that he would question Vladimir Putin President of Russia. This is mainly because of the Malaysian Airlines plane that was shot down over Ukrainian territory by Russian Separatists killing 38 Australians. So, after a late RSVP from Russia, Vladimir Putin arrived in Australia along with 4 warships for “protection”. With this, Tony Abbott scrutinized Putin and claimed he is trying to claim the “lost glories” of Russia. So, he in turn sent 3 Australian war ships to monitor the Russians. The Russian Embassy responded by saying they’re testing their range and the ships can be used for security protection of Putin.

After a shaky start to G-20, countries began discussing world-wide economic problems like job growth, strengthening institutions, aid developing countries, etc.  Overall, the conference was considered a success in large part due to its establishment of their goal of adding $2 trillion to the global GDP over the next five years.  With this, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim thanked the conference for setting a clear goal.  The next G-20 will be held on November 15-16 in Antalya, Turkey in 2015.