[Since the economic meltdown of 2008, as far as many Asian leaders are concerned, the G-8 has been supplanted as a forum for discussing global issues by the broader G-20, which includes the emerging-market economies of China, India, Indonesia and Brazil and, all told, represents 85 percent of the world’s economy and two-thirds of its population.]
By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop
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A man walks in front of the western G8 will meet for a summit May 26 and May 27. World leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations will put aside the squabbling over deficits and austerity that has marked their recent gatherings and seek to democracy movements that have swept |
Since the economic meltdown of 2008, as far as many Asian leaders are concerned, the G-8 has been supplanted as a forum for discussing global issues by the broader G-20, which includes the emerging-market economies of China, India, Indonesia and Brazil and, all told, represents 85 percent of the world’s economy and two-thirds of its population.
“We believe that there is a growing consensus in the international community that the G-20 is an appropriate, effective forum to deal with a variety of challenges facing today’s global economy,” said Oh Joon, South Korea Singapore
“Many of these issues, including global economic imbalances and international monetary cooperation, warrant engagement of both advanced and emerging economies, which can be provided by the G-20,” he said. “In fact, the G-20 leaders designated the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation at their Pittsburgh
He continued: “As for the G-8, it is not proper for a non-G-8 country to discuss its future. But we understand that there will not be much of an overlap between the agendas of the two forums. For example, at the upcoming summits at Cannes Fukushima
Gregory Chin, associate professor at York University in Toronto and acting director of global development at the Center for International Governance Innovation, a Canadian research institute, said that among Asian governments, the G-8 “was last seen as a relevant force at the time of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis,” when it was still the Group of 7.
At the time, the International Monetary Fund, run by the G-8 countries of Europe and North America , largely dictated what governments would do to get through the crisis. Since then, Mr. Chin said, “Asian governments have taken measures to mitigate against having to rely on the I.M.F. in the same way. There was strong resentment in Asia toward the G-7’s control of the global financial institutions, and the medicine that was offered.” Today, he said, “only Japan
Mr. Chin said most Asian leaders now see the G-20 as better reflecting the evolution of the world economy than the G-8 and believe the larger forum has more potential to encourage benefit-sharing, as well as burden-sharing, among the key participants. But he said some Asean members, like Singapore
Tommy Koh, ambassador at large at Singapore
“The 2008 global financial crisis showed that a body that more accurately reflected the weight of emerging economies was needed to help steer the world out of that crisis,” he said. “G-20 has thus supplanted the G-8 as the main body for global financial and economic cooperation,” he said. “That said, the G-8 still remains as a forum for political and strategic discussions, and as a caucus within the G-20.”
While the G-20 is more representative than the G-8 and better reflects the emerging order, it still lacks the kind of legitimacy the United Nations has, Mr. Koh said. “Small and medium-size countries feel marginalized by undemocratic forums such as G-20,” he pointed out.
To alleviate that problem, Singapore
The group, conceptualized in April 2009 at the G-20 London Summit meeting, includes 28 countries: Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Botswana Brunei Chile Costa Rica Guatemala Jamaica Kuwait Liechtenstein Malaysia Monaco Montenegro New Zealand Panama Peru Philippines Qatar Rwanda San Marino Senegal Singapore Slovenia Switzerland United Arab Emirates Uruguay Vietnam
“The 3-G’s basic objective is to build a bridge between the G-20 and the U.N. and to encourage the G-20 not to take actions that would undermine the U.N.,” said Vanu Gopala Menon, an ambassador who is Singapore
“Unlike the U.N. where we all have a voice, the G-20 process is closed,” Mr. Menon said. “It was in this context that Singapore
Mr. Menon said Asian countries in the global governance group generally agreed that “the G-20 catalyzed global actions during the financial crisis that ultimately helped avert a possible global economic depression.
“Nevertheless, there remains a need for the G-20 to be more consultative, inclusive and transparent in its deliberations for there to be wider support for its actions.”
Several U.N. members that do not belong to the Group of 20, like Norway
The global governance group has advocated that the G-20 take on a “variable geometry” configuration allowing non-G-20 states to participate in G-20 ministerial and other gatherings on specialized issues. For example, Singapore Switzerland New Zealand
Mr. Menon said the global governance group was currently focused on the work of the G-20 and had so far submitted four sets of papers related to development, labor, food security and the volatility of commodity prices.
Mr. Chin said the G-20 and, to some extent, the G-8 served another purpose for Asian countries: curtailing China
“Multilateralism is seen as an institutional means through which other Asian countries can increase predictability and certainty in their relations with China
@ The New York Times
Greece Washington Greece Portugal Spain Greece
[In addition to economic matters — including questions about how President Obama intends to reduce Washington’s giant budget deficit — the leaders meeting on Thursday and Friday will face new challenges concerning nuclear safety after the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan and how to help along the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East, even as the NATO-led war in Libya drags expensively and bloodily toward stalemate.]
By Steven Erlanger And Liz Alderman
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| Image: Seattlepi.com |
As President Obama arrived in the French seaside resort of Deauville Europe are threatening to harm the West’s uneven recovery.
The European Union and the I.M.F. have tried for the last year to calm the bond markets. But demonstrations against harsh austerity measures in Spain, Portugal and Greece; bickering among European leaders over Greece’s financial problems; and the European Central Bank’s fierce opposition to any restructuring of Greek debt have all conspired to send bond rates soaring in the last week.
Some analysts, like Bruce Stokes of the German Marshall Fund in Washington United States United States
“For the United States, the euro is a big concern,” said Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, an economics research institute in Brussels, and a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington. “The Americans want to avoid systemic instability.”
For that reason, Mr. Véron suggested, the Europeans want a new head of the I.M.F. in place quickly, and in keeping with tradition they want a European. They have largely united around the French finance minister, Christine Lagarde, 55, an English-speaking lawyer, who announced her candidacy on Wednesday.
American officials have called for an open process and praised both Ms. Lagarde and a Mexican candidate, Agustín Carstens, as “credible,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said on Wednesday. But he also said that Washington
The Group of 8 has been overshadowed by the larger and more economically oriented Group of 20, in which fast-growing emerging nations like China India Brazil South Africa
“The competition for global leadership is bigger than before the financial crisis,” said Jan Techau, the director of Carnegie Europe, the European office of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Similarly, David Shorr of the United States-based Stanley Foundation, said that “the G-8 bears a burden of proof to show its relevance and influence in today’s world of shifting political and economic power.” As a “club of the Western old guard,” he asked, “does it have enough key global players at the table to tackle the big challenges?”
In addition to economic matters — including questions about how President Obama intends to reduce Washington’s giant budget deficit — the leaders meeting on Thursday and Friday will face new challenges concerning nuclear safety after the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan and how to help along the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East, even as the NATO-led war in Libya drags expensively and bloodily toward stalemate.
One of the biggest issues will be how to invigorate Arab economies and create jobs in the face of a large demographic bulge of unemployed young people and continuing instability.
Mr. Obama has pledged to forgive as much as $1 billion in Egyptian debt and guarantee another $1 billion in financing for infrastructure and new jobs, even as Congress seeks to cut spending to deal with America
France wants to push the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which was set up to help the economic and democratic transformation of Eastern Europe, to explore helping Egypt, Tunisia and other Mediterranean countries.
But Group of 8 leaders are likely to find themselves enmeshed in discussions over their own economic and political troubles, which are deepening as recovery in Europe and the United States remains feeble.
Mr. Stokes described the euro crisis as “a slow-motion train wreck since it erupted last year.” Despite billions of euros in loans to Greece, Portugal and Ireland, investors seem far from reassured that these economies can reform themselves and recover, or that any new contagion spawned by Greece will not hit even bigger economies.
In Spain Madrid
After Portugal Spain Spain Italy
