Currently, the G8 comprises its six charter members, in addition to Canada, which joined in 1976, and Russia, which became a fully participating member by 1998. The EU is a “nonenumerated” ninth member; represented by the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, the EU participates as an equal. The first G8 summit was held in 1997 after Russia formally joined the G7 group, and the last one was held in 2013.
- Both summits have traditionally drawn outrage and protest among activist groups demonstrating against capitalism, patriarchy and racism.
- In 1975, the Library Group began to include government heads, who met annually to discuss economic issues.
- Russia formally joined the group in 1998, resulting in the Group of Eight, or G8.
- 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.
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The leaders of these countries take it in turns to be president of the G8, with the leader of the host country acting as the president that year. The move to expel Russia, announced yesterday (March 24), resulted from Russia’s annexation of Crimea, formerly a part of Ukraine. The act of military aggression was widely condemned in international diplomatic circles. Governments from eight of the world’s wealthiest countries have been represented at the summit.
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It was formed because of big worldwide money troubles in the early 1970s, which prompted the US to form something called the library group, a meeting of senior financial officials from Europe, Japan and the starting a business in day trading US. “The opportunity for unscripted, unfiltered, unmediated conversation amongst the world leaders at summits is something that routinely is mentioned as absolutely essential for potential breakthroughs, true understanding, and meeting of minds,” Patrick says. Since the G8 was intended as a forum for like-minded democracies, Russia’s backsliding toward authoritarianism has raised concerns among human rights advocates.
Youth 8 Summit
In a world of complex interdependence and expanding transnational challenges, it is illusory to imagine that any single multilateral institution or framework–whether the United Nations or the G20–will be able to handle it all. “Messy multilateralism,” as CFR President Richard N. Haass has described it, will be the order of the day. For the United States, this means following a front end engineer certification “horses for courses” approach–selecting the multilateral forum most appropriate to the task(s) at hand, tailored to U.S. objectives, sensitive to U.S. freedom of action, and likely to be effective. On these criteria, alone, the G8 needs to remain in America’s institutional stable.
This informal arrangement was dubbed the Political 8 (P8)—or, colloquially, the G7+1. President Bill Clinton,13 President Boris Yeltsin was invited first as a guest observer, later as a full participant. Russia formally joined the group in 1998, resulting in the Group of Eight, or G8. The G20, a group of financial officials from 20 of the largest national economies, more accurately represents the interconnected global economy and includes Argentina, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, India, Saudi Arabia and other nations. Together, the G20 represents about 85 percent of the world’s gross product output. Each year, the presidency of the G8 shifts to another leader, convert euro to hong kong dollar in a particular order (Germany, then Japan, then Italy, etc.).
The Group of Eight, commonly known as G8, was a political forum formed in 1997, following Russia’s addition to the G7 group. The Group of Seven (G7) comprised the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and Canada. The G8 lasted until 2014 when Russia was suspended from the forum due to its annexation of Crimea. In 2017, Russia permanently withdrew from the group, and the existing member-countries reverted back to the G7. However, several G7 representatives, including Donald Trump (former US president), have advocated for Russia’s return to the forum.
The original Group of 7 (G7) responded by indefinitely suspending Russia’s membership in the group, effectively dissolving the larger G8. After the 1994 G7 Summit in Naples, Russia met separately the G7 leaders in a series of meetings referred to as Political 8 (P8) or G7+1. Later, Bill Clinton (US) and Tony Blair (UK) invited Boris Yeltsin, Russian president, as a guest observer. After the 1997 meeting, the summit invited Russia to formally join the group the following year, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8) political forum.