Everyone knows that from time immemorial the fate of the world was decided by large states, or rather their heads. From ancient times, meetings of the highest rulers were practiced in order to determine the format of a joint future. But today, in the yard is the twenty-first century, the era of empires has sunk into oblivion. By and large, the modern development of our planet is determined by only a few powers, which are commonly called the term "Big Eight." It will be discussed in this article.
Group of leaders
So, what are these countries in whose hands the greatest influence is concentrated on all continents? The G8 includes:
- Germany;
- Italy;
- France;
- Canada;
- Japan;
- USA;
- Great Britain;
- Russia.
It is worth pointing out that in 2013 these 8 countries accounted for about 49% of all world exports, 51% of industrial production, 49% of the assets of the International Monetary Fund.
History of occurrence
The G8 owes its origin to various international events that led to the economic crisis in the period of the 1970s. Among them were:
- the first attempt to expand the European Union in 1972 and the consequences of such a step for the economy of the West;
- the world oil crisis in October 1973, which entailed disagreements between OPEC countries;
- unsuccessful attempts to reform the global monetary system after the collapse of the Bretton Woods financial system.
All this naturally led to the urgent need for the formation of a new algorithm for the coordination of interests between the leading countries of the Western world. And therefore, starting in 1973, the heads of the finance ministries of Germany, the USA, France and Great Britain (and later Japan) began to periodically hold informal meetings to discuss global financial relations. The first summit in our usual format was held in 1975 at the initiative of the leaders of France and Germany. It happened in Rambouillet.
Interaction principle
Immediately, we note that the G8 countries cannot be called an international organization, since there is neither a treaty, nor strict rules, nor a secretariat. The decisions of such a meeting have no legal force and do not bear any obligations. It is only about recommendations and intentions. Simply put, meetings of heads of state only determine subsequent behavior on certain issues. By the way, it is not possible to officially obtain the status of a member of this community due to the lack of a clearly defined charter.
Principle of operation
The country that hosts the summit of the group is the chairman throughout the calendar year and has obligations such as:
- organize the G8 summit, as well as holding expert, ministerial, and working meetings;
- develop a schedule;
- coordinate all the current activities of the group.
Negotiation Features
Heads of state and government hold their discussions exclusively in a narrow circle, where only personal assistants and representatives of leaders can be allowed. At the time of decision-making, the principle of consensus always applies. The discussion includes problematic issues in the areas of energy, economics, social development, environmental protection, trade, terrorism, compliance with democracy, employment.
Degree of significance
The G8 is valuable in that the heads of its countries, whose employment determines their ability to communicate with only a small number of people, allow presidents to get away from the routine.At the summits, they can, as they say, look at various international problems with prying eyes and get an excellent opportunity to coordinate joint actions with their colleagues to achieve the desired result.
Criticism
Often, the G8 countries are criticized for allegedly being an elite club, where the less developed states are strictly forbidden because of their alleged backwardness. Accusations of undemocracy and hegemony are also being made. Very often, anti-globalist countries put forward demands to pay for “environmental debt”.
So, in 2001, during the next summit in Genoa, a mass protest took place and there were clashes with the local police, as a result of which one of the protesters died tragically.
In 2003, in a French settlement called Anmas, at the same time as the summit, quite large-scale speeches by antiglobalists took place, of which there were about 3,000 thousand people.
Relations with the Russian Federation
Russia in the G8 officially ended up in 1998, when at the world rally in English Birmingham it was granted the official right to participate fully in the summit. Already in 1999, a ministerial conference on transnational organized crime was held in Moscow. In general, contacts between the heiress of the USSR and Western countries were pretty good until 2014, when a crisis broke out in Ukraine.
After Crimea became part of the Russian Federation on the basis of the G8 referendum at the Hague nuclear security summit, it made a rather tough decision - to suspend Russia's membership, the previously scheduled meeting in Sochi was also canceled, as other members of the informal club refused to go there. The refusal was motivated by the fact that Russia should reconsider its attitude regarding the situation in Ukraine.
