On a vastly larger scale, the 1999 Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was seriously disrupted by enormous demonstrations involving approximately fifty thousand people. Keynote speaker President Bill Clinton, usually insightful in sensing public opinion movement, was taken by surprise by the scale and intensity of the demonstrations. His failure in this case testifies to the speed as well as success with which activist sentiment congealed against the diplomatic delegates assembling in Seattle.

A decade ago, the U.N. economic institutions, which include the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank as well as the WTO, were much less transparent in dealing with the public at large, fueling conspiracy theories and making themselves ready targets for activists of all stripes. By contrast, these global organizations and gatherings are much more open today. Transparency in banking and related industries was on the G-20 agenda in Pittsburgh, further encouraging the trend for governments to do the same.

Pittsburgh was once the nation's premier center of steel manufacturing. Enormously effective industrial development in Asia drastically changed this landscape. Current attention is focused on conflict within the WTO between China and the U.S. related to steel, but India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and other nations in the region play important long-term roles in Asia dominance of this industry.

The dramatic demise of the U.S. industry since World War II could have created a major battleground in an intense economic war, but instead local leaders have also done a stellar job of adjusting effectively to challenging change. President Obama selected Pittsburgh as the site of the summit because of this remarkable success in creating what he terms “a bold example of — a 21st century economy.”

Rapid acceleration in the early 1980s of steel decline greatly boosted efforts to modernize the local economy, but the transition in total has been very long-term. In 1945, Mayor David Lawrence began economic redevelopment to change the structure of a “smoggy” steel center. The importance of the effort was underscored by a 1948 incident in Donora, twenty miles from Pittsburgh, where severe air pollution led to the deaths of 20 people and hospitalized more than seven thousand.

In dramatic contrast, Pittsburgh today has a growing reputation as a center of high-technology research, development and manufacturing, with current emphasis on energy-efficient facilities. This green dimension was a crucial ingredient in persuading President Obama to hold the summit there.

Pittsburgh unemployment today is under 8 percent, still high but below the national average. By contrast, in the early 1980s the city led the nation with unemployment over 17 percent. The Economist Intelligence Unit has described Pittsburgh as the most livable city in the United States.

Early in the week, Bill Gates of Microsoft dedicated a computer science complex at Pittsburgh's Carnegie-Mellon University, which along with the University of Pittsburgh has served as a crucial economic catalyst. Apple, Google, Intel and other computer giants have all built campus research facilities as well. The Disney Corporation also recently joined this heavy-duty corporate population. The very seriousness of the continuing global financial crisis encourages a relatively open approach by representatives of the IMF, WTO, World Bank and the nations which comprise them. Modern presidents and prime ministers have the uniform challenge of maintaining public support, with economic management a central challenge. In this context, Pittsburgh has been an inspiring as well as appropriate G-20 host.

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of “After the Cold War.” He can be reached at acyr@carthage.edu.