The Group of Eight (G8) also known as Group of Seven and Russia, is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, these countries represent about 65% of the world economy United Nations Development Programme and the majority of global military power (7 of the top 8 positions for military expenditure, and almost all of the world's active nuclear weapons.) The group's activities include year-round conferences and policy research, culminating with an annual summit meeting attended by the heads of government of the member states. The European Commission is also represented at the meetings.

Each year, member states of the G8 take turns assuming the presidency of the group. The holder of the presidency sets the group's annual agenda and hosts the summit for that year. Lately, both France and the United Kingdom have manifested its will to expand the group and include five developing countries: Mexico, China, India, Brazil and South Africa. These countries have participated as guests in previous meetings which have been called G8+5.

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, 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 and has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in 1977.

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, Russia formally joined the group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8).

Structure and activities

in 2007 was hosted by Germany (Angela Merkel, Chancellor)]]

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": China, Mexico, India, Brazil and South Africa.

In June 2005, justice ministers and interior ministers from the G8 countries agreed to launch an international database on pedophiles. G8 to launch international pedophile database David Batty June 18, 2005 The Guardian The G8 officials also agreed to pool data on terrorism, subject to restrictions by privacy and security laws in individual countries. G8 to pool data on terrorism Martin Wainwright June 18, 2005 The Guardian

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., Germany]]

Economic power

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, including 7 of the top 8 countries. (see List of countries by GDP )

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)

Criticism and demonstrations

in Genoa, Italy by burning vehicles on the main route to the summit]]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, predominanly from left-wing groups, 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. This has led to notable protests, often violent, coinciding with meetings of G8 leaders, in conjunction with more peaceful lobbying such as the Live 8 concerts held in July 2005 to coincide with the 31st G8 summit, intended to promote global awareness and to encourage G8 leaders to "Make Poverty History".

Other criticism has arisen from the absence of the People's Republic of China, the fourth largest economy in the world, in addition to emerging economies such as India and Brazil from the G8.(The British prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown , on his visit to India has stated that he would recommend India for the membership.) This lack of representation has lead some critics to question the relevance of the G8 as an institution.

Of the anti-globalization movement protests, the largest (and most violent) was that of the 27th G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. Summits since have been hosted outside of major cities.

See also

• 33rd G8 summit (information on the most recent summit)
• G7
• G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue
• Anti-globalization
• G8 research group?University of Toronto, Canada
• Developing 8 Countries (D8)
• Forum for the Future G8 meeting on Middle East reform
• G11, a group of eleven developing countries
• G20 industrial nations
• G20 developing nations
• G33
• J8
• List of countries and federations by military expenditures
• List of countries by GDP
• Senior G8 leader
• World Social Forum
• N-11

References

External links

For the official summit websites, see the applicable article, e.g. 33rd 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
• "London rocked by terror attacks", BBC News, July 7 2005.
• "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

Anti G8 Media Activism

• "FlashRadio", ?An activist daily radio podcast focusing on the anti-G8 movement in Rostock, 2007

International organizationsDiplomatic conferences



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