30th G8 summit: Difference between revisions
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==Composition of summit leaders== |
==Composition of summit leaders== |
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The composition of the G8 summit is a perennial topic. The G8 summits after 1997 considered the [[President of the European Commission]] as a permanently welcome participant in all meetings and decision-making, which means that this G8 summit has nine essential participants.<ref name="reuters_what"/> |
The composition of the G8 summit is a perennial topic. The G8 summits after 1997 considered the [[President of the European Commission]] as a permanently welcome participant in all meetings and decision-making, which means that this G8 summit has nine essential participants.<ref name="reuters_what"/> |
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===Permanent G8 |
===Permanent G8 participants=== |
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Leaders of the G8 members included: |
Leaders of the G8 members included: |
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*{{flagicon|Canada}} '''[[Canada]]''' - [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Paul Martin]].<ref name="delegations">[[G8 Research Group]]: [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2004seaisland/delegations.html delegations.]</ref> |
*{{flagicon|Canada}} '''[[Canada]]''' - [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Paul Martin]].<ref name="delegations">[[G8 Research Group]]: [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2004seaisland/delegations.html delegations.]</ref> |
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*{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} '''[[United Kingdom]]''' - [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
*{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} '''[[United Kingdom]]''' - [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
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*{{flagicon|USA}} '''[[United States]]''' - [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
*{{flagicon|USA}} '''[[United States]]''' - [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
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| ⚫ | *{{flagicon|EU}} '''[[European Union]]''' - [[President of the European Commission|President]] [[Romano Prodi]]<ref name="ec1">{{cite web| url = http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php| title = EU and the G8| accessdate = 2007-09-25| publisher = European Commission}}</ref> and [[Bertie Ahern]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
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===Invited (partial participation)=== |
===Invited (partial participation)=== |
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Leaders of the major international organizations were invited to attend the summit. |
Leaders of the major international organizations were invited to attend the summit. |
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* {{flagicon|UN}} '''[[United Nations]]''' [[Kofi Annan]], Secretary-General |
* {{flagicon|UN}} '''[[United Nations]]''' [[Kofi Annan]], Secretary-General |
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| ⚫ | *{{flagicon|EU}} '''[[European Union]]''' - [[President of the European Commission|President]] [[Romano Prodi]]<ref name="ec1">{{cite web| url = http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php| title = EU and the G8| accessdate = 2007-09-25| publisher = European Commission}}</ref> and [[Bertie Ahern]].<ref name="delegations"/> |
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==Priorities== |
==Priorities== |
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Revision as of 21:24, 10 April 2009
| 30th G8 Summit | |
|---|---|
30th G8 Summit official logo | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | June 8 – June 10 |
The 30th G8 summit took place in Sea Island, Georgia, United States, on June 8- June 10 2004.
Overview
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia.[1] In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981.[2] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.[3]
The G8 summits during the twenty-first century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.[4]
Composition of summit leaders
The composition of the G8 summit is a perennial topic. The G8 summits after 1997 considered the President of the European Commission as a permanently welcome participant in all meetings and decision-making, which means that this G8 summit has nine essential participants.[2]
Permanent G8 participants
Leaders of the G8 members included:
Canada - Prime Minister Paul Martin.[5]
France - President Jacques Chirac.[5]
Germany - Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.[5]
Italy - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.[5]
Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.[5]
Russia - President Vladimir Putin.[5]
United Kingdom - Prime Minister Tony Blair.[5]
United States - President George W. Bush.[5]
Invited (partial participation)
Other non-G8 leaders were invited to attend and participate in the summit talks, including the heads of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan and Yemen.[6]
Heads of international organizations
Leaders of the major international organizations were invited to attend the summit.
United Nations Kofi Annan, Secretary-General
European Union - President Romano Prodi[7] and Bertie Ahern.[5]
Priorities
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign.
Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.[3]
Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses
Protests
The protests against the 2004 meeting of the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, took place over the course of several days in the cities of Brunswick and Savannah, Ga.
The protests began with an anti-war march in Brunswick on June 8 and an anti-G8 march in Savannah. A vigil on the night of June 9 attracted 300 people and the Fair World Fair was launched. Tensions between police and protestors grew during an environmental march the following day, during which a group of demonstrators faced down riot police outside of a chemical plant.
The last and most eventful action, the March for a Free Palestine, took place in Brunswick. Several activists made a replica of part of the wall being built between Israel and Palestine, and burnt it to the ground. A breakaway march took over the causeway leading to the G8 meeting and ended in a sit-in in front of a security fence. The police arrested some fifteen people.
The protests were considerably smaller than other American protests over the past few years, including the 2003 Anti-War movement and the Summit of the Americas in Miami seven months earlier. While those events drew thousands of people and sometimes as many as 100,000, the convergence in Georgia drew about 500-700.
Security
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the summit a National Special Security Event (NSSE), because of the protests and so many heads of state of government attending. However, DHS started to handle another NSSE at the same time: the state funeral of former president Ronald Reagan. Some of the world leaders who attended the summit decided to extend their stay in the U.S. to attend the funeral in Washington. One of them was German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
Business opportunity
For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the official G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.[8]
The summit planning committee contracted with a Georgia-based wireless communication provider for 450 handsets and service to be used during the run up to the international event. In order to ensure reliable coverage in the coastal area around Sea Island, the company increased coverage and system capacity in advance of the summit. The handsets were deployed to coordinate operations, logistics, transportation, and other critical aspects of the preparations for the summit.[9]
Notes
- ^ Saunders, Doug. "Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders," Globe and Mail (Toronto). July 5, 2008.
- ^ a b Reuters: "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?", July 3, 2008.
- ^ a b Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations, p. 205.
- ^ "Influencing Policy on International Development: G8," BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development). 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i G8 Research Group: delegations.
- ^ a b c d e f Oliver Mark. "G8 leaders meet on remote island," Guardian (Manchester). June 8, 2004.
- ^ "EU and the G8". European Commission. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Prestige Media: "official" G8 Summit magazine
- ^ "G8 Summit Relies on Southern LINC for Communications," Business Wire. May 18, 2004.
References
- Bayne, Nicholas and Robert D. Putnam. (2000). Hanging in There: The G7 and G8 Summit in Maturity and Renewal. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-754-61185-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-754-61185-1; OCLC 43186692
- Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations. London: Routledge. 10-ISBN 0-415-16486-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-415-16486-3
External links
- No official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 -- see the 21st G7 summit.
- University of Toronto: G8 Research Group, G8 Information Centre