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G8
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''For other uses, see G8 (disambiguation) and G7 (disambiguation).''
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 20em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right"
|-
!Current G8 Leaders
|-
|
Image:G8countries.png thumb|center|300px|G8 countries.
; {{country|flagcountry|Canada}}
: Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
; {{country|flagcountry|France}}
: President
Jacques Chirac
; {{country|flagcountry|Germany}}
: Chancellor
Angela Merkel
; {{country|flagcountry|Italy}}
: Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
; {{country|flagcountry|Japan}}
: Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi
; {{country|flagcountry|Russia}}
: President
Vladimir Putin (chair)
; {{country|flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
: Prime Minister
Tony Blair
; {{country|flagcountry|United States of America}}
: President
George W. Bush
|}
The '''Group of Eight''' ('''G8''') consists of
Canada,
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Japan, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United Kingdom, the
United States of America, and the
Russian Federation. Altogether, those countries represent 66.5% of the world economy (source:www.undp.org). The hallmark of the G8 is an annual
economic and
political summit meeting of the heads of government with international officials, though there are numerous subsidiary meetings and policy research.
The
Presidency of the group rotates every year. For the year of
2006 it is held by
Russia, and a 2006 summit of all G8 leaders will eventually be held in
Saint Petersburg in July.
Background and history
The G8 has its roots in the
1973 oil crisis and subsequent global
recession. These troubles led the United States to form the ''Library Group'', a gathering of senior financial officials from the United States,
Europe, and
Japan, to discuss the economic issues.
In
1975,
President of France French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing invited the
head of state heads of state of six major industralized
democracy democracies to a summit in
Rambouillet and proposed regular meetings. The participants agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming what was dubbed the '''Group of Six''' ('''G6''') consisting of
France,
West Germany,
Italy,
Japan, the
United Kingdom, and the
United States. At the subsequent annual summit in
Puerto Rico, it became the '''Group of Seven''' ('''G7''') when
Canada joined at the behest of
U.S. President Gerald Ford.
Participation of Russia and formation of the G8
Image:G8meeting.jpg thumb|left|300px|G8 work session; July 20-22, 2001.
In
1991, following the end of the
Cold War, the
Soviet Union USSR (now
Russia) began meeting with the G7 after the main summit. This group became known as the
P8 (Political 8), or colloquially the "G7 plus 1", starting with the
20th G7 summit 1994 Naples summit. Russia was allowed to participate more fully beginning in the
24th G8 summit 1998 Birmingham summit, marking the creation of the Group of Eight. However, Russia was excluded from the meeting for financial ministers as it was not a major economic power; "G7" now refers specifically to this ministerial level meeting.
At the instigation of then-U.S. President
Bill Clinton, "Group of Seven" became the "Group of Eight," with Russia attending most sessions. This was a gesture of appreciation from President Clinton to then-Russian President
Boris Yeltsin for pursuing economic reforms, and for their neutrality with respect to the eastward expansion of
NATO.
Because of Russia's relative economic (and democratic) instability, there are select G7 sessions on economic affairs in which they do not participate. On
February 18,
2005,
United States Senate U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman and
John McCain called for Russia to be suspended from the G8 until democratic and political freedoms are ensured by Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
Structure and activities of the Group
Image:20050708-173.jpg 300px|thumb|right|Official G8 2005 Portrait.
The G8 is not supported by a transnational administration, unlike institutions such as the
United Nations or
World Bank. The presidency of the Group rotates among the member states annually, with the new president assuming his position on
1 January. The country holding the presidency hosts a series of ministerial-level meetings leading up to a mid-year three-day summit with the heads of government, and is responsible for the safety of the participants.
The ministerial meetings bring together ministers in topics such as health, law enforcement, and labor, to discuss issues of mutual or global concern. The best known of these is the G-7, which now refers specifically to the annual meeting of the financial ministers of the G-8 minus Russia, as well as officials from the
European Community. However, there also is a briefer "G8+5" meeting for the finance ministers of the full G-8, as well as the
People's Republic of China,
Mexico,
India,
Brazil, and
South Africa.
Under the auspices of G7 a special program for the implementation of the Information Society was established in 1994.
In June 2005 the G8 agreed to launch an international database on
pedophiles, expected to be set up by the end of the year. Other countries may join later.[http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1509107,00.html] The G8 also agreed to pool data on
terrorism, subject to the restrictions of the various countries' privacy and security
laws. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1509218,00.html]
In June 2005 the national science academies of the G8 nations - and Brazil, the People's Republic of China and
India, three of the largest emitters of
greenhouse gases in the developing world, signed a statement on the global response to
climate change. The statement stresses that the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/document.asp?latest=1&id=3222], and explicitly endorsed the
IPCC consensus.
Criticism of the Group
Since the agenda of G8 is usually about controversial global issues, critics often refer to the G8 as an unofficial "world government." The annual summits are often the focus of
anti-globalization movement protests, notably at the
27th G8 summit in
Genoa in 2001.
Critics assert that members of G8 are responsible for global issues such as
global warming due to carbon dioxide emission,
poverty in Africa and developing countries due to
Third World debt debt crisis and unfair
trading policy, the
AIDS problem due to strict
medicine patent policy and other problems that are related to
globalization.
The debate drives discussions on
property rights,
global economics,
international politics,
morality and many other aspects. For example, some defenders believe that patent laws are essential property rights that encourage medical discovery to begin with. On the other hand, some critics say that
parallel importation is a way out. Some others believe that African poverty is due to the rampant government corruption on that continent while some critics say it is a problem of unfair international trading. Most debate is related to discussions on globalization.
Pressure has also been put on G8 leaders to take responsibility to combat problems they are criticized of creating. For example,
Bob Geldof organized
Live 8, global awareness concerts on
July 2 and
July 6 in 2005, to encourage G8 leaders to "
Make Poverty History." Organizers have also proposed that G8 member nations adjust their national
budgets to allow for 0.7% to go towards
foreign aid as outlined in Agenda 21 of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. The concerts were timed to coincide with the
31st G8 summit.
Related Sites
-
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/
Causes.asp (Causes of the Debt Crisis)
-
http://www.camcorderguerillas.net/FILMS/
G8 (Film about G8 meeting in Scotland, Nov. 2005)
G8 and Terrorism
{{main|7 July 2005 London bombings}}
The opening day of the 2005 G8 Summit in
Scotland,
7 July,
2005, was accompanied by a synchronized series of bombings in the
London Underground and in a
Buses in London London red double-decker Double-decker bus bus that claimed more than 50 lives and wounded hundreds more. Credit for the attacks was immediately taken by the "
Secret Group of Al-Qaeda's Jihad in Europe". The attacks are assumed to be in retaliation for the
United Kingdom UK's participation in military action in
Afghanistan and
Iraq, although terrorism has been perpetrated against western states by Islamic fundamentalists prior to those actions. The global attention focused on the G8 summit was presumably leveraged by the terrorists for maximum symbolic effect. The strike also followed abruptly after the
International Olympic Committee announced
London as the site of the 2012
Olympic Games.
Prime Minister
Tony Blair denounced the attacks as 'barbaric', but announced that the business of the summit would continue.
Past G6/7/8 summits
The location of the summit meetings rotate annually among member countries in the following order: France, United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, (also the order in which each nation joined the Group, excluding Russia who joined last). Thousands of reporters descend on the summit site to cover the world's most powerful leaders.
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#ececec"
! Number !! Date !! Country !! Place !! Official web site
|-
| 1st ||
1975,
November 15–
November 17 .html">France
|_Rambouillet ||
|-
| 2nd ||
1976,
June 27–
June 28 .html">United States
| San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan,
Puerto Rico ||
|-
| 3rd ||
1977,
May 7–
May 8 .html">United Kingdom
| London ||
|-
| 4th ||
1978,
July 16–
July 17 .html">Germany
|_Bonn ||
|-
| 5th ||
1979,
June 28–
June 29 .html">Japan
|_Tokyo ||
|-
| 6th ||
1980,
June 22–
June 23 .html">Italy
|_Venice ||
|-
| 7th ||
1981,
July 20–
July 21 .html">Canada
|_Montebello, Quebec|Montebello,
Quebec ||
|-
| 8th ||
1982,
June 4–
June 6 .html">France
|_Versailles ||
|-
|
9th G7 Summit 9th ||
1983,
May 28–
May 30 .html">United States
| Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg,
Virginia ||
|-
| 10th ||
1984,
June 7–
June 9 .html">United Kingdom
| London ||
|-
| 11th ||
1985,
May 2–
May 4 .html">Germany
|_Bonn ||
|-
| 12th ||
1986,
May 4–
May 6 .html">Japan
|_Tokyo ||
|-
| 13th ||
1987,
June 8–
June 10 .html">Italy
|_Venice ||
|-
| 14th ||
1988,
June 19–
June 21 .html">Canada
|_Toronto,
Ontario ||
|-
| 15th ||
1989,
July 14–
July 16 .html">France
|_Paris,
Grande Arche ||
|-
| 16th ||
1990,
July 9–
July 11 .html">United States
| Houston,
Texas ||
|-
| 17th ||
1991,
July 15–
July 17 .html">United Kingdom
| London ||
|-
| 18th ||
1992,
July 6–
July 8 .html">Germany
|_Munich,
Bayern ||
|-
| 19th ||
1993,
July 7–
July 9 .html">Japan
|_Tokyo ||
|-
| 20th ||
1994,
July 8–
July 10 .html">Italy
|_Naples ||
|-
|
21st G8 summit 21st ||
1995,
June 15–
June 17 .html">Canada
|_Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax,
Nova Scotia ||
|-
| - ||
1996,
April 19–
April 20 .html">Russia
|_Moscow (Special summit on nuclear security) ||
|-
| 22nd ||
1996,
June 27–
June 29 .html">France
|_Lyon ||
|-
| 23rd ||
1997,
June 20–
June 22 .html">United States
| Denver,
Colorado ||
|-
|
24th G8 summit 24th ||
1998,
May 15–
May 17 .html">United Kingdom
| Birmingham(First G8 official Summit) ||
|-
|
25th G8 summit 25th ||
1999,
June 18–
June 20 .html">Germany
|_Cologne,
North Rhine-Westphalia ||
|-
|
26th G8 summit 26th ||
2000,
July 21–
July 23 .html">Japan
|_Okinawa ||
|-
|
27th G8 summit 27th ||
2001,
July 20–
July 22 .html">Italy
|_Genoa ||
http://www.g8italia.it/
|-
|
28th G8 summit 28th ||
2002,
June 26–
June 27 .html">Canada
|_Kananaskis, Alberta|Kananaskis,
Alberta || http://www.g8.gc.ca/
|-
|
29th G8 summit 29th ||
2003,
June 2–
June 3 .html">France
|_Évian-les-Bains || http://www.g8.fr/
|-
|
30th G8 summit 30th ||
2004,
June 8–
June 10 .html">United States
| Sea Island,
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia || [http://usinfo.state.gov/ei/economic_issues/group_of_8/g8_summit.html http://usinfo.state.gov/ei/...]
|-
|
31st G8 summit 31st ||
2005,
July 6–
July 8 .html">United Kingdom
| Gleneagles Hotel,
Gleneagles / Muirton,
Scotland || http://www.g8.gov.uk
|}
Future G8 summits
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#ececec"
! number !! date !! country !! place !! official website
|-
|
32nd G8 summit .html">2006
|_Russia ||
Saint Petersburg || [http://www.g8stpetersburg.com]
|-
| 33rd ||
2007 .html">Germany
|_Heiligendamm ||
|-
| 34th ||
2008 ||
Japan || ||
|-
| 35th ||
2009 ||
Italy || ||
|-
| 36th ||
2010 ||
Canada || ||
|-
| 37th ||
2011 ||
France || ||
|-
| 38th ||
2012 ||
United States || ||
|}
See also
*
World Social Forum
*
Anti-globalization
*
G20
*
Eight-Nation Alliance
*
Forum for the Future (Bahrain 2005) Forum for the Future G8 meeting on Middle East reform
External links
{{wikinews|Category:G8}}
Governments
-
Government of Canada - G8 official Canadian government site
-
10 Downing Street - G8 and EU Presidencies official United Kingdom government site
-
USINFO - Aid To Africa Site official United States Department of State site
-
University of Toronto - G8 Information Centre research group
-
Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: G8
-
BBC News - Profile: G8
-
Red Pepper G8 Special: articles and resources
-
Kremlin.ru - Government site of Russia [http://www.g8stpetersburg.com]
-
Italian Government (Italian, English)
-
German Government (Deutsch, English, français)
Comment
*''
New Statesman'',
4 July 2005, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200507040005 "We are deeply concerned. Again"] - G8 development concerns since 1977
* Medish, Mark. [http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=5151 "Russia — Odd Man Out in the G-8"], ''
The Globalist'', 24 February 2006.
Earlier summit activism
-
http://www.nog8.org/
(2004 summit)
-
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/evian/
(2003 summit)
-
http://g8.activist.ca/
(2002 summit)
-
"What do anarchists want?, In light of the G8"
Current & future summit activism
-
http://g7plus1.blogspot.com/
(future summits)
-
Camcorder Guerillas - "Why Close the G8?" film (Gleneagles Summit)
-
http://www.dissent.org.uk/
(Gleneagles Summit)
*http://www.makepovertyhistory.org (Make Poverty History Campaign)
*http://www.g-8.org.uk
*http://www.one.org
-
http://g8-2006.plentyfact.net/index.php/
Main_Page (wiki on G8 2006, Russia)
African media coverage of G8 2005
-
AfricaVox Reports - African journalists at G8 2005 7 Journalists reporting on Gleneagles
-
AfricaVox Blog - African journalists at G8 2005 7 journalists blogging Gleneagles
{{G8}}
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{| style="margin:0.5em 1em; clear: both" align="center" class="toccolours"
|-
! bgcolor=#ccccff align=center |G8 Group of Eight
|-
| align="center" | Canada .html">France _Germany .html" title="Meaning of Germany.html" title="Meaning of Germany">Germany ">Japan _Russia Italy .html" title="Meaning of Russia.html" title="Meaning of Russia">Russia Italy "> United Kingdom | United States
|}
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