This weekend, the four leaders of the Quad will once again convene, this time in US President Joe Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will double as a send-off for two of the leaders – it will be one of Kishida Fumio’s last acts as Japan’s prime minister, while Biden will end his term four months after the gathering.
The Quad is an ambitious undertaking. As the four explained in the lengthy first leaders’ communique, it exists to promote “the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond”.
Described by policy wonks as a “minilateral” to distinguish it from the broader ranging multilateral regional institutions such as ASEAN and APEC, it brings together a small group of self-styled “like-minded” nations to advance a shared set of ambitions for the world’s most populous region.
