In this special edition of the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast on global trade, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA sits down with Peter Draper to examine the G7’s evolution and whether it can remain relevant amid China’s rise, the growing influence of the G20, and internal divisions that are eroding the cohesion underpinning its role in global economic governance.

The Group of Seven (G7) has been at the apex of global economic governance for more than 50 years, emerging in the aftermath of the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system and the oil shocks of the 1970s to manage the economic fallout through shared approaches. Over time, it broadened into a mechanism for crisis management and coordination among advanced economies. Behind the scenes, extensive preparatory work sets the stage for informal, leader-to-leader exchanges where sensitive trade-offs can be negotiated away from public scrutiny and framed in ways that remain politically viable at home.

Today, however, the conditions that sustained this approach are shifting. The rise of China, the emergence of BRICS, and the growing weight of the Group of 20 have diluted the group’s relative influence, while domestic populist pressures — particularly in the United States — are straining its cohesion. The result is a more uncertain role for the G7 in an increasingly fragmented global order.

Tune in to this podcast as Peter Draper, Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide, joins the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA to unpack the G7’s evolution and its future in a more contested global landscape. The podcast draws on insights from The Elgar Companion to the G7, which he co-edited with Andreas Freytag and recently discussed at a Hinrich Foundation book talk.

Download Transcript

Tune into the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast series for insights on international trade.