The Quartet toward uncertain times

On the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly, the Quad group met again. This practice has been established and maintained for several years now. However, the meeting on September 21 between US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese takes place at a very special time and in a very special context, so it has special significance and impact on the Quad group.

Quad leaders to meet in Japan in 2023

The US is about to hold an election and the new US leader will be either former President Donald Trump or current Vice President Kamala Harris. This will be the last Quad summit under Mr. Biden. The same goes for Mr. Kishida because he will no longer be the chairman of the ruling party in Japan.

Half of the Quad will have new leaders, and no one knows what the two new leaders will do for the group’s future. The new leaders in the US and Japan will certainly not make the Quad a mere name for itself, but the question that is being asked and no one is sure of the answer is whether the two new leaders will give Quad affairs the same attention and policy priority as Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida.

Mr. Biden is more prominent than his predecessors in the level of US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and has made a decisive contribution to enhancing the status, role and influence of the Quad forum framework. Therefore, the upcoming summit of this group is held in Mr. Biden's hometown to highlight the personal role of the US president and further deepen his personal mark on the group. At the same time, another main mission of this event is to prepare the group for the upcoming uncertain period, creating many faits accomplis so that the achievements of the Quad group are not undermined when personnel change, especially the change of the US president.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bo-tu-huong-toi-thoi-bat-dinh-185240917222655325.htm