The 32nd G8 summit was held on 15–17 July 2006 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The venue was the Constantine Palace, which is located in Strelna on the Gulf of Finland.[1][2] This was the first time Russia served as host nation for a G8 summit; and the nation's status as a full member of the G8 was confirmed.[3]
The Group of Seven (G7) is a forum which brings together the heads of the countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia.[4] In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981.[5] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.[6]
The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.[7]
The G8 is an annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign. Energy security, education, and the fight against infectious diseases were the main issues, with the conflict between Israel and Lebanon also attracting the attention of world leaders.[12]
Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.[6] This summit was primarily an economic forum for the global economic powerhouses; and the focus of this G8 Summit was discussion of economic issues. Some of the pressing items on the agenda:[12]
Open trade between Russia and the United States, including discussion of Russian entry into the World Trade Organization
Multibillion-dollar aircraft manufacturing contracts, in light of strategy shifts at Airbus and Boeing and worsening airline business performance
Free energy markets, especially regarding Russia and former Soviet republics, as well as petroleum from the Middle East
Nigeria, Venezuela, and the Persian Gulf regions have all had reduced energy exports in the past weeks due to various political and technical issues
Rights for exploration and exploitation of natural gas in Russia and the North Atlantic Ocean/Baltic Sea
Alternative energy forms, especially relaxing nuclear power regulations; and development of hydrogen as an economically viable energy platform
Security – both militarily and financially ensuring the future in energy supplies
Discussion of economic impacts of global instability, drugs, and terrorism
Education priorities for developed nations, especially encouraging businesses to support education
Global system to monitor and contain infectious diseases
Israel–Lebanon crisis
The agenda set up by Russian President Vladimir Putin was largely overshadowed by the continuing violence in Israel and Lebanon. On 16 July, the leaders of the G8 nations agreed on a statement[13] calling for an end to the fighting and the release of the Israeli soldiers.[14] The leaders did not, however, go as far as calling for a ceasefire.
Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses
During the week leading up to the summit (7–11 July), police in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere around Russia detained somewhere between a few dozen to possibly two hundred human rights and political activists. Many of them were sentenced to ten days' imprisonment, preventing them from participating in protests surrounding the official summit. The Russian Deputy Internal MinisterAlexander Chekalin said that the allegations of harassment were "from the realms of supposition" and that the police's actions were "commensurate with the situation at hand".[15]
Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister and a human rights lawyer, slipped out of the summit in order to meet with local human rights groups and offer them free legal advice. Her leaving the summit was officially endorsed by Downing Street, and has reportedly furthered a rift between Britain and Russia.[16]
Accomplishments
The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's continuing relevance after more than 30 years is somewhat unclear.[17] More than one analyst suggests that a G8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event. Rather, the meeting offers an opportunity to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter-related issues. The G8 summit brings leaders together "not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together."[18]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Bush and Blair conversation
During the summit, a conversation between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair was inadvertently recorded by a US TV crew preparing for a live broadcast.[20]
The UK's Independent newspaper put a transcript of the conversation on its front page on 18 July, alongside some notes explaining the context of some of the comments; and the news story was widely disseminated by the international media.[21] The paper singled out Bush's apparent snub of an offer by Blair to mediate in the 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict, in favour of sending Condoleezza Rice.[22] While Britons were upset with the perception that Blair was subordinate to Bush, in the US the fact that Bush used an expletive (claiming the conflict would not have escalated if Syria would have pressured Hezbollah to "stop doing this shit") was of greater concern.[23]
Business opportunity
For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the official G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.[24]
Controversial massage
During one meeting at the summit on 17 July, with all of the heads of state seated at a roundtable, President George W. Bush walked around the table to the position behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chair, reached out his hands to Merkel's shoulders and started to give her a massage. Merkel quickly raised her hands in protest and Bush immediately withdrew his hands and resumed walking around the table. A video of the massage became a hit on YouTube, where many commentators likened it to sexual harassment.[25]
^. G8Russia. 2006. Archived from the original on 24 November 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2006.
^. G8Russia. 2006. Archived from the original on 18 January 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2006.
^McLean, Iain et al. (2009). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, p. 216., p. 216, at Google Books
^Saunders, Doug. "Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders", Globe and Mail (Toronto). 5 July 2008. 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^Reuters: "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?", 3 July 2008.
^ abBob Reinalda (1998). Autonomous policy making by international organizations. Psychology Press. p. 205. ISBN978-0-415-16486-3.
^"Influencing Policy on International Development: G8," 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development). 2008.
^Rieffel, Lex. "Regional Voices in Global Governance: Looking to 2010 (Part IV)", 3 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Brookings. 27 March 2009; "core" members (Muskoka 2010 G-8, official site). 3 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^(www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Groper-in-Chief: Bush-Merkel Video a Hit in Cyberspace | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 27.07.2006". DW.COM. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
References
Iain McLean; Alistair McMillan (2009). The concise Oxford dictionary of politics. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN978-0-19-920780-0.
Bob Reinalda (1998). Autonomous policy making by international organizations. Psychology Press. ISBN978-0-415-16486-3.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 32nd G8 summit.
Official G8 website: ; n.b., no official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 – see the 21st G7 summit.
English language reporting from the protests against the summit
(Plentyfact wiki)
Activist mobilisation against the summit
2006 G8 Summit – Protest Reports & Photos
August 22, 2023
32nd, summit, held, july, 2006, saint, petersburg, russia, venue, constantine, palace, which, located, strelna, gulf, finland, this, first, time, russia, served, host, nation, summit, nation, status, full, member, confirmed, official, logohost, countryrussiada. The 32nd G8 summit was held on 15 17 July 2006 in Saint Petersburg Russia The venue was the Constantine Palace which is located in Strelna on the Gulf of Finland 1 2 This was the first time Russia served as host nation for a G8 summit and the nation s status as a full member of the G8 was confirmed 3 32nd G8 summitOfficial logoHost countryRussiaDates15 17 July 2006Follows31st G8 summitPrecedes33rd G8 summit Contents 1 Overview 2 Composition of summit leaders 2 1 Participants 3 Priorities 4 Issues 4 1 Israel Lebanon crisis 5 Citizens responses and authorities counter responses 6 Accomplishments 6 1 Infrastructure Consortium for Africa 7 Recorded conversations 8 Business opportunity 9 Controversial massage 10 Gallery 10 1 Core G8 participants 11 Notes 12 References 13 External linksOverview EditThe Group of Seven G7 is a forum which brings together the heads of the countries France Germany Italy Japan the United Kingdom the United States and Canada starting in 1976 The G8 meeting for the first time in 1997 was formed with the addition of Russia 4 In addition the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981 5 The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions and in fact a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France s president Valery Giscard d Estaing and West Germany s chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six G6 in 1975 6 The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates protests and demonstrations and the two or three day event becomes more than the sum of its parts elevating the participants the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure 7 Composition of summit leaders Edit G8 leaders standing outside the Constantine Palace Left to right Romano Prodi Angela Merkel Tony Blair Jacques Chirac Vladimir Putin George W Bush Junichiro Koizumi Stephen Harper Matti Vanhanen and Jose Manuel BarrosoThe G8 is an annual forum for the leaders of Canada the European Commission France Germany Italy Japan Russia the United Kingdom and the United States The 32nd G8 summit was the first summit for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel It was also the last summit for French President Jacques Chirac and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Participants Edit These summit participants are the current core members of the international forum 8 9 10 11 Core G8 membersHost state and leader are shown in bold text Member Represented by Title Canada Stephen Harper Prime Minister France Jacques Chirac President Germany Angela Merkel Chancellor Italy Romano Prodi Prime Minister Japan Junichiro Koizumi Prime Minister Russia Vladimir Putin President United Kingdom Tony Blair Prime Minister United States George W Bush President European Union Jose Manuel Barroso Commission PresidentMatti Vanhanen Council PresidentG8 5 invitees countries Member Represented by Title Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva President China Hu Jintao President India Manmohan Singh Prime Minister Mexico Vicente Fox President South Africa Thabo Mbeki PresidentGuest invitees international institutions Member Represented by TitleAfrican Union Alpha Oumar Konare Chairperson Commonwealth of Independent States Nursultan Nazarbayev Executive Secretary International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei Director GeneralInternational Energy Agency Claude Mandil Executive Director United Nations Kofi Annan Secretary General UNESCO Kōichirō Matsuura Director General World Bank Paul Wolfowitz President World Health Organization Anders Nordstrom Director GeneralWorld Trade Organization Pascal Lamy Director GeneralPriorities Edit Heads of delegations in a working sessionTraditionally the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations which take place primarily amongst multi national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign Energy security education and the fight against infectious diseases were the main issues with the conflict between Israel and Lebanon also attracting the attention of world leaders 12 Issues EditThe summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members As a practical matter the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions 6 This summit was primarily an economic forum for the global economic powerhouses and the focus of this G8 Summit was discussion of economic issues Some of the pressing items on the agenda 12 Open trade between Russia and the United States including discussion of Russian entry into the World Trade Organization Multibillion dollar aircraft manufacturing contracts in light of strategy shifts at Airbus and Boeing and worsening airline business performance Free energy markets especially regarding Russia and former Soviet republics as well as petroleum from the Middle East Nigeria Venezuela and the Persian Gulf regions have all had reduced energy exports in the past weeks due to various political and technical issues Rights for exploration and exploitation of natural gas in Russia and the North Atlantic Ocean Baltic Sea Alternative energy forms especially relaxing nuclear power regulations and development of hydrogen as an economically viable energy platform Security both militarily and financially ensuring the future in energy supplies Discussion of economic impacts of global instability drugs and terrorism Education priorities for developed nations especially encouraging businesses to support education Global system to monitor and contain infectious diseasesIsrael Lebanon crisis Edit The agenda set up by Russian President Vladimir Putin was largely overshadowed by the continuing violence in Israel and Lebanon On 16 July the leaders of the G8 nations agreed on a statement 13 calling for an end to the fighting and the release of the Israeli soldiers 14 The leaders did not however go as far as calling for a ceasefire Citizens responses and authorities counter responses EditDuring the week leading up to the summit 7 11 July police in Moscow St Petersburg and elsewhere around Russia detained somewhere between a few dozen to possibly two hundred human rights and political activists Many of them were sentenced to ten days imprisonment preventing them from participating in protests surrounding the official summit The Russian Deputy Internal Minister Alexander Chekalin said that the allegations of harassment were from the realms of supposition and that the police s actions were commensurate with the situation at hand 15 Cherie Blair wife of the British Prime Minister and a human rights lawyer slipped out of the summit in order to meet with local human rights groups and offer them free legal advice Her leaving the summit was officially endorsed by Downing Street and has reportedly furthered a rift between Britain and Russia 16 Accomplishments EditThe G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media but the G8 s continuing relevance after more than 30 years is somewhat unclear 17 More than one analyst suggests that a G8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three day event Rather the meeting offers an opportunity to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter related issues The G8 summit brings leaders together not so they can dream up quick fixes but to talk and think about them together 18 Infrastructure Consortium for Africa Edit The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa ICA was established at the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles Scotland in the United Kingdom in 2005 Since that time the ICA s annual meeting is traditionally hosted by the country holding the Presidency of the G8 in Germany in 2006 19 Recorded conversations Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Bush and Blair conversation During the summit a conversation between President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair was inadvertently recorded by a US TV crew preparing for a live broadcast 20 The UK s Independent newspaper put a transcript of the conversation on its front page on 18 July alongside some notes explaining the context of some of the comments and the news story was widely disseminated by the international media 21 The paper singled out Bush s apparent snub of an offer by Blair to mediate in the 2006 Israel Lebanon conflict in favour of sending Condoleezza Rice 22 While Britons were upset with the perception that Blair was subordinate to Bush in the US the fact that Bush used an expletive claiming the conflict would not have escalated if Syria would have pressured Hezbollah to stop doing this shit was of greater concern 23 Business opportunity EditFor some the G8 summit became a profit generating event as for example the official G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998 24 Controversial massage EditDuring one meeting at the summit on 17 July with all of the heads of state seated at a roundtable President George W Bush walked around the table to the position behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel s chair reached out his hands to Merkel s shoulders and started to give her a massage Merkel quickly raised her hands in protest and Bush immediately withdrew his hands and resumed walking around the table A video of the massage became a hit on YouTube where many commentators likened it to sexual harassment 25 Gallery EditCore G8 participants Edit CanadaStephen Harper Prime Minister FranceJacques Chirac President GermanyAngela Merkel Chancellor ItalyRomano Prodi Prime Minister JapanJunichirō Koizumi Prime Minister RussiaVladimir Putin President United KingdomTony Blair Prime Minister United States George W Bush President European Union Jose Manuel Barroso Commission PresidentNotes Edit A Brief Overview G8Russia 2006 Archived from the original on 24 November 2005 Retrieved 19 July 2006 Pacae of Congresses G8Russia 2006 Archived from the original on 18 January 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 McLean Iain et al 2009 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics p 216 p 216 at Google Books Saunders Doug Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders Globe and Mail Toronto 5 July 2008 Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Reuters Factbox The Group of Eight what is it 3 July 2008 a b Bob Reinalda 1998 Autonomous policy making by international organizations Psychology Press p 205 ISBN 978 0 415 16486 3 Influencing Policy on International Development G8 Archived 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine BOND British Overseas NGOs for Development 2008 Rieffel Lex Regional Voices in Global Governance Looking to 2010 Part IV Archived 3 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Brookings 27 March 2009 core members Muskoka 2010 G 8 official site Archived 3 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine 2006 St Petersburgh G 8 delegations 2006 St Petersburgh G 8 delegations EU and the G8 Archived from the original on 26 February 2007 a b Address by Russian President Vladimir Putin to visitors to the official site of Russia s G8 Presidency in 2006 G8Russia 2006 Archived from the original on 14 February 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 Middle East G8Russia 16 July 2006 Archived from the original on 18 February 2009 Retrieved 13 July 2006 Merkel G 8 agrees on Mideast statement Yahoo Associated Press 16 July 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 dead link Dozens preemptively arrested in leadup to St Petersburg G8 Summit Wikinews 12 July 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 Blomfield Adrian Wilson Graeme 18 July 2006 Cherie Blair infuriates Russia with offer of help to activists The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 25 October 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 Lee Don On eve of summit G 8 s relevance is unclear Los Angeles Times 6 July 2008 Feldman Adam What s Wrong With The G 8 Forbes New York 7 July 2008 Meeting to Discuss Crisis Impact in Africa s Infrastructure Development Afrol News 2 March 2009 Transcript Bush and Blair s unguarded chat BBC News Online 18 July 2006 Archived from the original on 13 August 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 Ruttenberg Jim Bush s Policy Chit Chat Undiplomatic Prose The New York Times 18 July 2006 Yo Blair Overheard at the G8 The Independent 18 July 2006 Archived from the original on 20 July 2006 Retrieved 14 December 2015 Bush frustration sparks expletive CNN 17 July 2006 Archived from the original on 18 July 2006 Retrieved 20 July 2006 Prestige Media Archived 19 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine official G8 Summit magazine Archived 18 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine www dw com Deutsche Welle Groper in Chief Bush Merkel Video a Hit in Cyberspace Germany News and in depth reporting from Berlin and beyond DW 27 07 2006 DW COM Retrieved 6 February 2018 References EditIain McLean Alistair McMillan 2009 The concise Oxford dictionary of politics Oxford University Press USA ISBN 978 0 19 920780 0 Bob Reinalda 1998 Autonomous policy making by international organizations Psychology Press ISBN 978 0 415 16486 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to 32nd G8 summit Official G8 website St Petersburg summit 2006 n b no official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 see the 21st G7 summit University of Toronto G8 Research Group G8 Information Centre G8 2006 delegations amp documentsPress and media BBC News Russian WTO bid falters at summit Business Finance News G8 SUMMIT At a glance guide to the main points Russian roulette policing methods G8 2006 Info and Pressgroup G8 research group G8 Live Live news and blogs from St Petersburg summit by University of Toronto student members of the G8 Research Group Medish Mark Russia Odd Man Out in the G 8 The Globalist 24 February 2006 Oxford Energy Comment The G8 and Russia Security of Supply vs Security of Demand Oxford Institute for Energy Studies August 2006Activism Russia Indymedia Coverage English language reporting from the protests against the summit Call for Action against the G8 5 Climate Summit October 3 4 in Mexico City G8 St Petersburg Russia G8 Summit 2006 St Petersburg Russia Plentyfact wiki Activist mobilisation against the summit Activists preparations 2006 G8 Summit Chronicle of Global Resistance 2006 G8 Summit Protest Reports amp Photos Network Against G8 Saint Petersburg Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 32nd G8 summit amp oldid 1160904046, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
