G8

For other uses, see G8 (disambiguation) and G7 (disambiguation).

The Group of Eight (G8) is the coalition of eight of the world's leading industrialized nations: France, Germany (West Germany to 1990), Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, (the G6, 1975), Canada (the G7, 1976), and Russia (not participating in all events), as well as the European Union. The hallmark of the G8 is an annual economic and political summit of the heads of government with international officials, though there are numerous subsidiary meetings and policy research.

The G8 leaders as of March 10, 2005 were:

• Canada—Paul Martin
• France—Jacques Chirac
• Germany—Gerhard Schröder
• Italy—Silvio Berlusconi
• Japan—Junichiro Koizumi
• Russia —Vladimir Putin
• United Kingdom—Tony Blair
• United States—George W. Bush

• European Union—President of the European Council, President of the European Commission and President of the European Parliament

Activities of the G8

Under the auspices of G7 a special programme for the implementation of the Information Society was established in 1994. The primary purpose of the G7 now is as an annual meeting of the financial ministers of those countries, as well as officials from the European Community, held preceding the weekend of the IMF/World Bank annual fall meetings. This meeting is now also known as the G8 Finance Ministers Meeting.

The G8 also annually met as a summit of the heads of state until 1998, when it became, with the addition of Russia, the G8. Annual summits of the heads of state of the G6 began in 1975 and continued as Canada and Russia joined. G7 Head of State summits rotate anually through member countries, with that nation's leader serving as an informal chairman of the group. The annual summits are often the focus of anti-globalization movement protests.

Group of Six (G6)

In 1975, a group of six major industrial democracies met together for the first time. Those nations were the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.

Group of Seven (G7)

The Group of Seven or G7 is the predecessor of the G8. It changed its name from G6 to G7 when Canada joined the coalition in 1976 at the behest of then-U.S. President Gerald Ford, and its name eventually changed to the G8 when Russia joined. The G7 however continues to exist, as Russia is not yet developed enough to participate fully in all global economic discussion

Participation of Russia

Beginning in 1991 Russia (then the USSR) met with the G7 post-summit, a group which became the P8 starting with the 1994 Naples Summit. The 1998 Birmingham Summit saw the formation of the G8 with Russia's full participation, and the G7 began its function as a meeting for the financial ministers.

Effectively from 1997, at the instigation of then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, "Group of Seven" became the "Group of Eight," with the Russians attending most sessions rather than being invited along after dinner for coffee and cigars. It was a thank you to then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin for pursuing economic reforms and for being neutral with respect to the eastward expansion of NATO. Because the original G7 are effectively the leading industrial democracies and the Russian economy (as well as democracy) is still struggling, there are still some G7 sessions on economic affairs in which the Russians do not participate. On February 18th, 2005, United States 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. [1]

Past G7/G8 Summits

The location of the summit meetings rotate annually among member countries in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, Russia (the order in which each nation joined the group).

Future G8 Summits

Links to unofficial G8-related websites (alternative or protest)

• http://www.reshape.org.uk (2005 summit)
• http://www.dissent.org.uk (2005 summit)
• http://www.tao.ca/~wrench/dist/g8/pga.html (2005 summit)
• http://www.g8alternatives.org (2005 summit)
• http://ppforum.sdf-eu.org/wiki/index.php?title=G8 (2005 summit)
• http://www.perthshireg8.org.uk/ (2005 summit)
• http://g8resistance.org/ (2004 summit)
• http://www.nog8.org/ (2004 summit)
• http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/evian/ (2003 summit)
• http://g8.activist.ca/ (2002 summit)
• http://g7plus1.blogspot.com/ (future summits)

Links to university research on G8

• http://www.g7.utoronto.ca (G8 Information Centre)

See also

• World Social Forum
• G20