Jostlin' for the G

With little concrete agreement going into the historic meeting, and the host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, playing down his former talk of a 'global New Deal', expectations are pretty low for the G20 summit tomorrow. The gathered leaders will doubtless once more meaninglessly condemn protectionism and profess a unity of resolves in combatting the economic crisis, but a coordinated stimulus is not on the table and even where there is a rough agreement - on the need for renewed banking regulations and a bolstered IMF - we are still probably months away from having the details fully thrashed out.

But while the London Summit may fail the needs of the global economy, in terms of future international coordination the phoenix is already in flight. The Summit is now being cast by Mr Brown's spokesman as "very much part of a process" of which "we are nearer to its beginning than to its end." Italy, France, Japan and South Korea are already jostling to host the next G20 summit to continue the discussion. China is growing into its role as one of the major players on the planet. Even if come the weekend there is little concrete to show for it, the new era of concert diplomacy is undoubtedly here to stay.