Welcome to a global summit in my hometown! A scenic city or resort is often chosen as preferred location for luxury-seeking global leaders to host their exclusive meetings, diplomatic summits. It can also provide an ideal opportunity for city-diplomacy.
Our beautiful city of Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains region of Western North Carolina was chosen by the U.S. Treasury Department as ideal site to host this weekend’s global G20 meeting of finance/treasury ministers and business leaders representing countries and continental organizations from six continents.
Scenic views, however, currently hide economic and diplomatic crises. Asheville and all WNC are still suffering devastation from September 2024 Hurricane Helene. Moreover, U.S. international
relations are in dire crisis because the current POTUS has insulted, threatened almost all the countries, both allies and traditional enemies, including leaders of states represented at the financial summit.
In advance, U.S. officials proclaimed Asheville was chosen to show off successful recovery resulting from this administration’s economic aid. That kind of distorted information in official statements is often what’s called government propaganda by Americans describing other countries under authoritarian regimes.
Yes, the people of Asheville and WNC are ruggedly resilient and have recovered in many ways from the storm’s destruction, but today the naturally beautiful city and region are not rebounding as portrayed by such false claims. Many of our community’s businesses and us individuals throughout the region have not received promised FEMA or any other government support for rebuilding. Recognition of this reality came from a USDA official predicting it could take another twenty-five years for the region to recover economically.
This G20 summit today is held in a city molded by cyclical history of financial booms and woes. Asheville has been a tourist town over the past centuries. In 1859, a great-great uncle Henry E. Colton published a guidebook, “Mountain Scenery,” promoting the beauty of this town and region to attract more tourists in early tourism publicity. Then immediately followed the US Civil War and more years before the next tourist boom and later bust again, then more continuing cycles. Some of us remember growing up in this city that was still paying off its 1930s-crash-depression debt until 1976.
Now in addition to local problems, the nation hosting this financial summit has alienated friends and foes alike. Who wants to go to a market or tourist site threatened by raging winds, storms, ruler? Merchants and tourists avoid a bellicose leader’s markets-tourist sites regardless of scenic settings. Marketing, tourism seek sunshine and peace for buyers to stay and trade, relax, return again with confidence.
Here also we’re “mountain folk” who, regardless of where situated on the political-parties spectrum, take seriously our love of independence and freedom. It’s always been the case here. We wonder whether summit attendees might take notice of the ongoing protests against presidential and governmental actions.
A few years back, even two years ago in August 2024, before September 2024 Hurricane Helene ravaged Asheville & WNC and the November 2024 election that brought a leader from 2025 set on alienating the country’s allies and threatening the global economy, Asheville would have been at one of its peaks economically and an ideal model city for such a global meeting.
Yet though this may be a high-level international meeting, what’s happened here locally is also affecting the globe now. Likewise, the global concerns affect US places locally. A summit like this can show off the role and value of what I call “glocal diplomacy,” potentially benefitting the city even in a turbulent and threatening country.
Earlier as an international journalist, I covered a variety of such summits in scenic cities and settings and later as a diplomat helped organize such global meetings. I know that participants seldom get beyond seeing only scenic views from their hotel rooms and backdrops for group photos.
Now while the host country’s leader threatens the world, including allies and global financial stability, who might care or remember where the summit is set or whether there’s a scenic backdrop?
Still, I know visitors can retain positive memories of a special place and hope to return. It’s up to US working together to help rebuild our damaged communities and welcome all to our city’s scenic summits.
Elizabeth “Liz” Colton, Ph.D., an author, educator, diplomat, Emmy Award winning journalist covering news worldwide, currently teaches diplomacy & media/strategic communications for UNITAR and international universities’ global courses. She also serves as Board-Chair of Reporters Sans Frontieres/Reporters Without Borders RSF-USA/North America.
*Note: This author does not use AI in her writing.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Summit Asheville’s scenic views hide financial and diplomatic crises
