"LIKE-MINDED MINILATERALISM" COMING OF AGE

As broad-based multilateral organizations seem to be increasingly unable (or unwilling) to tackle the major security challenges of the day-Russia-Ukraine, China-Taiwan, North Korea, and Myanmar, to list but a few-more focused "minilateral" efforts involving "like-minded" allies and partners are coming to the fore. Foremost among the dysfunctional are the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and broader UN mechanisms, thanks to Russian and Chinese intransigence. Sadly, ASEAN-led mechanisms like the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, not to mention ASEAN itself, also fall into this category, as does the G20, whose foreign ministers failed to reach any meaningful conclusions at their early March 2023 meeting, their first with India at the helm. Enter the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or "Quad," involving Australia, India, Japan, and the United States), AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-US technical cooperation agreement), various minilateral cooperative efforts (including US-Japan-Philippines and US-Japan-Korea), and a resurgent like-minded G7, now that its (failed) experiment of drawing Russia and China into its process has come to an inglorious end. But not all new efforts are succeeding. President Biden hosted his second "Summit of Democracies" which drew little fanfare or attention.