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G8

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G-8 work session; July 20-22, 2001.
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G-8 work session; July 20-22, 2001.

The Group of Eight (G8) is the coalition of eight of the world's leading industrialized nations: France, Germany (West Germany to 1991), 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:

The annual summits are often the focus of anti-globalization movement protests.

Contents

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 G7 consisted of the member of the G6 with the addition of Canada. The G7 annually met as a summit of the heads of state until 1998, when it became, with the addition of Russia, the G8.

Participation of Russia

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).

number date country place official website
1st 1975, November 15November 17 France Rambouillet
2nd 1976, June 27June 28 United States San Juan, Puerto Rico
3rd 1977, May 7May 8 United Kingdom London, England
4th 1978, July 16July 17 Germany Bonn
5th 1979, June 28June 29 Japan Tokyo
6th 1980, June 22June 23 Italy Venice
7th 1981, July 20July 21 Canada Montebello , Ottawa, Ontario
8th 1982, June 4June 6 France Versailles
9th 1983, May 28May 30 United States Williamsburg, Virginia
10th 1984, June 7June 9 United Kingdom London, England
11th 1985, May 2May 4 Germany Bonn
12th 1986, May 4May 6 Japan Tokyo
13th 1987, June 8June 10 Italy Venice
14th 1988, June 19June 21 Canada Toronto, Ontario
15th 1989, July 14July 16 France Paris
16th 1990, July 9July 11 United States Houston, Texas
17th 1991, July 15July 17 United Kingdom London, England
18th 1992, July 6July 8 Germany Munich, Bayern
19th 1993, July 7July 9 Japan Tokyo
20th 1994, July 8July 10 Italy Naples
21st 1995, June 15June 17 Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia
- 1996, April 19April 20 Russia Moscow
(Special summit on nuclear security)
22nd 1996, June 27June 29 France Lyon
23rd 1997, June 20June 22 United States Denver, Colorado
24th 1998, May 15May 17 United Kingdom Birmingham, England
(First G8 official Summit)
25th 1999, June 18June 20 Germany Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
26th 2000, July 21July 23 Japan Okinawa
27th 2001, July 20July 22 Italy Genoa
28th 2002, June 26June 27 Canada Kananaskis, Alberta http://www.g8.gc.ca/
29th 2003, June 2June 3 France Évian-les-Bains http://www.g8.fr/
30th 2004, June 8June 10 United States Sea Island, Georgia http://g8usa.gov/

Future G8 Summits

number date country place official website
31st 2005, July 6July 8 United Kingdom Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland http://www.g8.gov.uk
32nd 2006 Russia
33rd 2007 Germany
34th 2008 Japan
35th 2009 Italy
36th 2010 Canada
37th 2011 France
38th 2012 United States

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)

Links to university research on G8

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

See also

Last updated: 05-15-2005 05:32:45