Zakaria: Summit an important new beginning

Editor's note: Fareed Zakaria is a foreign affairs analyst who hosts "Fareed Zakaria: GPS" on CNN at 1 p.m. ET Sundays.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- World leaders unveiled a set of sweeping plans Saturday aimed at tackling the ever-expanding economic crisis, which has roiled financial markets worldwide.

Following a historic two-day meeting in Washington, presidents and prime ministers from Group of 20 countries managed to find some common ground on both the causes of the crisis and areas that need to be fixed.

President Bush, characterized the summit as "very productive" but was quick to point out that much work is ahead.

"All this is an important first step," Bush said at the conclusion of the conference. "In other words, this is a beginning of a series of meetings."

G-20 leaders said they would meet again by the end of April to review the progress on the initiatives announced Saturday.

CNN spoke to world affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria to get his take.

CNN: What was the importance of the G-20 meeting?

Zakaria: The most important aspect of it was the event itself. Every financial and economic crisis of the past six decades has been handled by the IMF, World Bank, G-7 or G-8. This time everyone realized that you couldn't tackle the financial crisis without the newly emerging countries of the world -- notably China, India and Brazil. This summit marks the beginning of a new international system in which the rest of the world will begin to get seats at the table.

CNN: Why is it important for everyone to have a seat at the table?

Zakaria: In a globalized world, nothing has become more globalized than finance. In other words, money can move anywhere, anytime. So if one country makes certain rules that others don't, money might rush into that country. This creates volatility, unpredictability and instability. What we need are some common rules and regulations that everyone agrees to so we can have some economic stability.

CNN: President-elect Barack Obama on the campaign trail expressed some concerns on free trade. Do you think we should implement restrictions on free trade? Watch Fareed Zakaria on other challenges facing Obama »

Zakaria: No. Right now is the time to do the opposite. Push for more trade. If the major countries could agree to complete the Doha Round, it would give the world economy a much needed boost of growth. (You'll remember the Doha Round was a trade-negotiation to lower trade barriers to increase global trade. Negotiations basically broke down in July because of differences between the developed and developing nations.)

We don't know exactly what to do in these economic times, but one thing is for sure, protectionism will make all the economies of the world slow down. I understand the politics, but let's also be clear on the economics. We need to grow the global economy not hinder it.

CNN: Why would President Bush call the summit in Washington when he is seen as a lame duck president? Should the meetings have been held somewhere else, London for example?

Zakaria: I actually give President Bush credit for agreeing to hold the meeting. The economic situation couldn't wait for the next president to be inaugurated. And it was right to hold it in Washington.

In a way, the summit was a picture of the evolving "post-American" world. It was France's idea and included many new players, but Washington is still the single most important world power and has the potential to shape the agenda like no one else. It is a pity though that President Bush did little more than hold the meeting. He didn't offer any substantive ideas or policies, which may have been due to his status.

CNN: Then should President-elect Obama have attended the summit?

Zakaria: No. He is not the president now. It would have created confusion, divided authority and made the United States' system seem dysfunctional. President-elect Obama made the right call in not attending. The next meeting is scheduled for April and he'll be there for that one.

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