Summit of G20 nations is unlikely to produce quick solutions

Reporting from Washington — Considering how rapidly the global economic crisis has escalated, leaders converging in Washington for a weekend financial summit might be accused of taking a lackadaisical approach to developing a strategy to solve it.

After all, they're saying this will be just the first of several such summits. And agreeing on a joint plan of action lies months down the road at best.

President Bush called the summit on short notice several weeks ago as the financial markets plunged and demands rose for a coordinated, global response to stem the crisis and prevent future ones.

But Bush says now that though delegates may agree on principles this weekend, big decisions will come later.

"The issues are too complex, the problem is too significant to try to solve, or to come with reasonable recommendations in just one meeting," Bush said in a speech Thursday at a Manhattan Institute event at Federal Hall in New York. "So this summit will be the first of a series of meetings."

There are several other reasons leaders plan to kick the can down the road on the hard decisions. First and foremost is that the United States has a president-in-waiting, Barack Obama, and any agreement without his participation probably would be ineffective.

Also, developed nations continue to have differences over the specifics of a common strategy. And the fissures are even more pronounced when the views of developing and underdeveloped nations are added to the equation.

Under the circumstances, the risk that the summit could go badly is much greater than the likelihood that it could go well, said Charles Freeman, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"If you're Obama, you want your fingerprints nowhere near this thing," Freeman said. "You'll take up the process when it's launched and more stable down the road. But he said there's only one president, and he's pretty glad it ain't him right now."

Still, Obama has named two representatives to meet with foreign officials on the sidelines of the summit, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Republican Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, a former House banking committee chairman.

Obama aides emphasize, however, that the advisors will not attend summit gatherings or play any formal role in the discussions.