From Apec to G20, heavyweights of the global order try to find their place

The caravan - or circus - of world leaders moves on Saturday from Beijing, after a sideshow gathering at Naypyidaw, Burma, to Brisbane, Australia where the heavyweight heads of delegation, or HoDs, including presidents Barack Obama, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, will be joined by leaders of Africa, Europe, India, Latin America and the United Nations for the 2014 finale called the Group of 20.

The G20 claims to "represent over 80 per cent of the global economy". But wherever it goes, it brings disruption and chaos. Meanwhile, real power lies with national government heads who could hardly give a damn about the rest of the world.

Brisbane's pleasant centre today becomes a "red zone" and locked down. At the University of Queensland, where Obama will take time off to make a speech, police will declare a special security zone where invitation-only guests will be banned from wearing masks or carrying eggs.

There is something wrong when there are 6,000 police on duty, almost two for every delegate. How can anything get done when the 20 heads of government swell to more than 40 with guest leaders and assorted UN hangers-on, and they spawn endless officially approved offspring, including B20 (business), C20 (civil society), L20 (labour), Q20 (Queensland) and T20 (think, meaning academics)?

The G20 devised its own glossary, including AEOI (automatic exchange of information), BAP (Brisbane Action Plan), FWG (Framework Working Group, "the body charged with advancing the G20 framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth") and LEMM (not lemmings but labour and employment ministerial meeting).

Let's not forget the sherpas, the leaders' representatives who "progress thematic priorities" and the "HoDs" themselves, like Xi, Narendra Modi and Obama.