G8
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| Group of Eight Groupe des Huit Gruppe der Acht Gruppo di Otto 主要国首脳会議 Большая восьмёрка |
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The Group of Eight (G8), also known as Group of Seven and Russia,[2] is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The G8 can refer to the member states or to the annual summit meeting of the G8 heads of government. G8 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers (who meet four times a year), G8 foreign ministers or G8 environment ministers. The European Union is also represented at the meetings by the president of the European Commission and the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada. The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year and determines which ministerial meetings will take place. Lately, both France and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to expand the group and include five developing countries, referred to as the Outreach Five (O5) or the Plus Five: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. These countries have participated as guests in previous meetings, which are sometimes called G8+5.
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[edit] History
The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized democracies emerged following the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent global recession. In 1974 the United States created the Library Group, an informal gathering of senior financial officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan and France. In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet. The six leaders agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming the Group of Six (G6). The following year, Canada joined the group at the behest of U.S. President Gerald Ford,[citation needed] and the group became known as the Group of Seven (G7). The European Union is represented by the President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The European Union has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in 1977.[3]
The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russia became the successor state. Beginning with the 1994 Naples summit, Russian officials held a separate meeting with leaders of the G7 after the main summit. This group became known as the Political 8 (P8), or colloquially as the "G7 plus 1". At the initiative of United States President Bill Clinton,[citation needed] Russia formally joined the group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8).
[edit] Structure and activities
The G8 is intended to be an informal forum, and it therefore lacks an administrative structure like those for international organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Bank. The group does not have a permanent secretariat, or offices for its members. The presidency of the group rotates annually among the member countries, with each new term beginning on January 1 of the year. The country holding the presidency is responsible for planning and hosting a series of ministerial-level meetings, leading up to a mid-year summit attended by the heads of government.
The ministerial meetings bring together ministers responsible for various portfolios to discuss issues of mutual or global concern. The range of topics include health, law enforcement, labour, economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior, terrorism and trade. There are also a separate set of meetings known as the "G8+5", created during the 2005 Gleneagles, Scotland summit, that is attended by finance and energy ministers from all eight member countries in addition to the five "Outreach Countries": Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.
In June 2005, justice ministers and interior ministers from the G8 countries agreed to launch an international database on pedophiles.[4] The G8 officials also agreed to pool data on terrorism, subject to restrictions by privacy and security laws in individual countries.[5]
[edit] Annual summit
The annual G8 leaders summit is attended by eight of the world's most powerful heads of government. As such, it is an international event that is observed and reported by news media. The member country holding the G8 presidency is responsible for organising and hosting the year's summit, held for three days in mid-year.
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[edit] Cumulative influence of member nations
Together, the G8 countries represent about 65% of the Gross World Product[6], the majority of global military power (seven are in the top 8 nations for military expenditure[7]), and almost all of the world's active nuclear weapons.[8]
The eight countries making up the G8 represent about 14% of the world population, but they account for 65% of the world's economic output measured by gross domestic product, all 8 within the top 10 countries according to the CIA World Factbook. (see the CIA World Factbook column in List of countries by GDP (nominal))
In 2007, the combined G8 military spending was US$850 billion. This was 72% of the world's total military expenditures. (see List of countries and federations by military expenditures) Four of the G8 members United Kingdom, United States of America, France and Russia together account for 96-99% of the world's nuclear weapons. (see List of states with nuclear weapons)
[edit] Criticism and demonstrations
As the annual summits are extremely high profile, they are subject to extensive lobbying by advocacy groups and street demonstrations by activists.
The most well-known criticisms center on the assertion that members of G8 are responsible for global issues such as poverty in Africa and developing countries due to debt and trading policy, global warming due to carbon dioxide emission, the AIDS problem due to strict medicine patent policy and other issues related to globalization. During the 31st G8 summit in Scotland, 250, 000 people took to the streets of Edinburgh as part of the Make Poverty History campaign calling for Trade Justice, Debt Relief and Better Aid. Numerous other demonstrations also took place challenging the legitimacy of the G8. [9],
Of the anti-globalization movement protests, the largest and most violent[citation needed] was that of the 27th G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. Summits since have been hosted outside of major cities. The 7 July 2005 London bombings were timed to coincide with the 31st G8 summit in Scotland.
[edit] See also
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[edit] References
- ^ The EU has the privileges and obligations of membership but does not host/chair summits. It is represented by the Commission and Council Presidents. EU and the G8. European Commission. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
- ^ What is the G-8? - US Department of State
- ^ EU and the G8. European Union. Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
- ^ G8 to launch international pedophile database David Batty June 18, 2005 The Guardian
- ^ G8 to pool data on terrorism Martin Wainwright June 18, 2005 The Guardian
- ^ United Nations Development Programme
- ^ World Wide Military Expenditures. GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
- ^ The G8 and the Nuclear Industry. The Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout (June 2002). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
- ^ David Miller 'Spinning the G8, Zednet May 13th 2005 http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/6279
[edit] External links
- For the official summit websites, see the applicable article, e.g. 34th G8 summit.
- G8: The World Can't Wait!, "Oxfam International G8 Blog", oxfam.org
- G8 research group, "G8 Research Group's Information Centre", utoronto.ca
- "Special Report: G8", Guardian Unlimited
- "Profile: G8", BBC News
- "We are deeply concerned. Again", New Statesman, 4 July 2005, —G8 development concerns since 1977
- "G8 Dossier" by the Internationalist Review, —On-line dossier with analysis, photo series and links on G8 protests
- Official G8 sites of member states (not summit specific)
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- History of the G8 —UK government site
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