G8 Summit - An Obsolete Institution?

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  When the powerful leaders of the wealthiest countries meet for their annual summit, one gets the feeling an exclusive club is deciding the fate of the rest of the world. That was no different at this year’s G8 summit in Toyako, Japan, earlier this week. The group discussed global climate, energy and food topics; Vital issues affecting the all of mankind. Unfortunately, little was decided and little of that will be binding.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  The leading industrial nations who make up the Group of 8 enjoy less influence that the name of their meeting, the G8 Summit, suggests. The global balance has shifted quite a bit. If economic might were the sole criterion for membership, Canada and Russia would have to be replaced by China and India or Brazil.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Threshold or developing states are often invited to meetings surrounding the summit, but those are hardly the same as a true partnership. A partnership that allows those countries to take on more international responsibility. One example of such responsibility is Chinese environmental policy, especially considering that China has overtaken the United States in the emission of greenhouse gases. Without China as a full partner, a follow-on agreement to the Kyoto Protocol makes little sense. China’s growing influence in Africa could also help to fight poverty there.

The Group of 8, which currently gives the impression of a debating society, is at a turning point. Worried about legitimacy and credibility, it seems to lack the courage to set binding goals.

What do you think? G8 Summit -- An Obsolete Institution?

Send an email with your questions and comments to: quadriga@dw-world.de

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Our guests were:

Bildunterschrift: Andrew B. Denison is a political scientist from the United States. He studied both there and in Germany, and is an expert in foreign policy and security issues. He works for the Institute for Strategic Analysis in Bonn, as a researcher and author, and is director of "Transatlantic Networks", a research consortium based in Königswinter, Germany.

Hao Gui

Nicola Liebert