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How does G8 summit play its role in world affairs?
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-11 05:42 L'AQUILA, Italy: The summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations concluded Friday, making positive but not sparkling progress on such issues as climate change, world trade, food security and South-North cooperation. The progress is far from enough to either meet with the requirements of pressing global issues or answer expectations from the international community.
So here is the question: How does the G8 summit play the group's role in dealing with world's problems? To address this question requires the group to face the fact that the world pattern concerning political and economic powers is changing. It also needs to listen to more voices from the developing nations and enhance its communications and cooperation with those nations. In particular, the G8 states should manage global problems in line with the world's needs and seek a balance between the interests of the developed and developing nations. Otherwise, the group will find it hard to win world-wide recognition for its positions on global issues and difficult to enhance its problem-solving capacity. The G8 has been always in the spotlight since it was founded in 1975. Its predecessor, the Group of Seven, had long dominated the world economy before the 1990s and had a major say on world political and security issues. In recent years, however, the G8 countries seem to have more difficulty in managing world problems, such as the economic and financial crisis, oil and food price increases, climate change, nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran, and the situation in Afghanistan. The rise of emerging economies and globlization can be attributed to the diminishing influence of the group. Therefore, the G8, known as a "club of the rich," can no longer make decisions on world affairs without engaging other countries, especially the developing nations. |
