What is the G-8 and Why is Russia in It?

As eight countries making up about half the world’s gross domestic product, the standards we set, the commitments we make, and the steps we take can help solve vital global issues, fire up economies and drive prosperity all over the world. The G-8’s original members were drawn from the largest countries in the OECD, which existed for more than a decade prior to the G-7’s formation. Since Russia intends to join the OECD, and since the OECD has decided that it intends to have Russia as a member once Russia meets the technical and economic conditions, the G-8 summit, with its less formal and technical role, is the logical place for Russia at this stage. In reality, the G-8 is not a club of democracies, nor a school of democracy, nor a place to be giving grades on democratic purity; to find that kind of institution, the places to look are the Council of Europe and the fledgling global Community of how to buy discover financial services stock Democracies.

Structure and Agenda of G8 Countries

• In addition to the eight original industrialized countries of the G8, the G20 added Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the European Union.
• The G6 was intended to provide major industrial powers of the noncommunist world a venue in which to address economic concerns, which at the time included inflation and the recession sparked by the oil crisis of the 1970s.
• One of the world’s two dominant superpowers (along with the United States), the Soviet Union had a tense relationship with the leading democratic countries from the 1950s to the early 1990s, a period usually referred to as the Cold War.
• As such, it is perhaps an indication of the support that can be hoped for once Russia joins the other Western institutions.
• G7 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7 finance ministers (who meet four times a year), G7 foreign ministers, or G7 environment ministers.
• A lot of complaints in the past have centered around the exclusion of representatives from emerging and developing nations.

The group meets on an annual basis, and invitees from other countries and entities (such as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) often attend the G8 annual summit. The summits began when the world was facing the first oil crisis which had pushed the world into recession, and this year there will again be talk of managing the global recovery and driving forward a free-trade agenda. However, the annual summit has evolved over the years to include other topics such as the environment, money laundering, and global terrorism. These nations may influence policies and agendas in formal international organisations by working together. The G8 summits have been viewed as opportunities to debate various social, political, and economic concerns because of their impact and authority.

Russia and the G8

Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. “The G8 no longer accommodates the world’s biggest or most dynamic economies; the G8 no longer accounts for all the world’s nuclear weapons; the G8 doesn’t speak for any particular identity or values — with Russia in the fold, it’s hardly a champion of democracy,” wrote Ishaan Tharoor in TIME. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin was invited to attend the G7 Summit as an observer; in 1998 — in a Premarket penny stock movers move intended to put the Cold War to rest — Russia achieved full membership, creating the G8.

The G7 leading economic nations threatened to impose broad sanctions if Russia continued its actions in Ukraine. The US and six other economic superpowers cancelled the G8 conference scheduled for Sochi in June 2014 to pressure President Vladimir Putin about the military intervention in Ukraine. The subject was revisited at the 2007 Heiligendamm summit, where an agreement among leaders on the need to tackle climate change was hailed as an important step forward. The G8’s positive stance on globalisation has provoked a vigorous response from opponents, and riots have sometimes overshadowed summit agendas, most notably in Italy in 2001.

Why was Russia excluded from G8?

In 2005, British prime minister Tony Blair invited five leading emerging markets—Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa—to participate in the summit, but the “G8+5,” as it was called, was short-lived. “It began to be seen as patronizing and insulting that they weren’t actually there full-time,” Patrick says. Russia formally joined the group in 1998, after steps toward democratization and years of gradual engagement with what was then the G7. With the Cold War over, several world leaders—particularly U.S. president Bill Clinton—encouraged Russia’s inclusion as a gesture toward Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russia had neither a fully liberalized economy nor Western-style democracy, but G7 leaders hoped Russia’s inclusion would safeguard its democratic progress. Russia held the G8 presidency for the first time in 2006 and will once again assume the presidency in 2014, with the summit set to be held in Sochi, a Black Sea resort city that was host to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Group of Eight (G Industrialized Nations

The forum enables presidents and prime ministers, as well as their finance and foreign ministers, to candidly discuss pressing international issues. The first meeting of world leaders took place in Rambouillet, France, in November 1975. The meeting included the heads of government of France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany. This first meeting focused on economic and monetary concerns related to the oil crisis of the 1970s.

• Leaders are better able to establish priorities, give guidance to international organizations, and reach collective decisions.
• This first meeting focused on economic and monetary concerns related to the oil crisis of the 1970s.
• In 1974 Japan was invited to the meetings and in 1975 the French President brought these informal discussions to the leaders.
• This indicated a shift in power and possible lessening of the influence of the G8.
• Although the G8 lacks participation from China, Africa, South America, and South Asia, it remains a significant concentration of political influence, attracting attention from global media.
• It was upgraded in its economic functions by Treasury Secretary James Baker in the mid-1980s.

Critics, however, are quick to accuse the G8 of being a Western-centric anachronism that doesn’t reflect the reality of today’s global economy. Russia has been indefinitely suspended from the group of countries known as the G8, a consortium of eight of the world’s largest national economies. They say Russia’s economy is far smaller than any of the other members, and under Mr Putin democratic development in Russia has stalled. Tony Blair has already said he will set up an international commission to evaluate progress in regard to boosting development how to write a great request for proposal rfp for your website project in Africa. Other officials attending including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the heads of key UN agencies covering health (WHO), energy (IEA and IAEA), and education (UNESCO). He also wants to focus on education as a means of preventing the spread of terrorism and xenophobia, and calling for a global response to the threat posed by diseases such as HIV-AIDS and bird flu.

Russia Suspended from G8 over the Ukrainian Crisis

The G8 has clout in other world bodies because of the economic and political muscle of its members. With no headquarters, budget or permanent staff, the Group of Eight is an informal but exclusive body whose members set out to tackle global challenges through discussion and action. While the current G-7 holds significant sway, it is not an official, formal entity like the United Nations (UN) and therefore has no legislative or authoritative power. The goal is to find solutions to pressing issues and increase international cooperation, compiling recommended policies and plans that its members can work collaboratively to implement.