26th G8 summit

Overview

The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized 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. In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. 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.

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.

Ice hockey game: Canada vs. Japan

In conjunction with Kyushu-Okinawa summit, a Canadian team played the local Haebaru Dragonfires in a friendly. On July 21, the teams played the only ice rink on the island and in spite of above-35°C weather. About 4,500 Okinawan residents were in attendance and very keen ice hockey fans who are proud of their arena and their tradition of ice hockey in spite of being a remote tropical island. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien skated in the pre-game warm-up and performed the ceremonial puck drop. The Canadian team beat the Haebaru Dragonfires quite handily. Leading scorers were Andrew Donnelly, Canada (4 goals) and Paul Sabourin, Canada (3 goals). Following the game the teams engaged in a ceremonial jersey exchange. The mayor of Haebaru Town said "inviting the Prime Minister is a chance to strengthen the roots of ice hockey in Haebaru Town, while promoting stronger cross-cultural ties with Canada in the future."

Leaders at the summit

The 26th G8 summit was the first summit for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was the last summit for Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and US President Bill Clinton. It was also the first and only summit for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori.

Participants

These summit participants were the current "core members" of the international forum:

Ice Hockey game: Canada vs. Japan

In conjunction with the summit a Canadian team played the local Haebaru Dragonfires in spite of above-35'C weather. The crowd featured several thousand Okinawan residents, while Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien skated in the pre-game warm-up and performed the ceremonial puck drop. The Canadian team was victorious over the Haebaru Dragonfires by a score 14-2.

The format order of this section mirrors the order of the Muskoka 2010 G8 official website -- see http://g8.gc.ca/about/member-states/

This format order is also congruent with "Summit Meetings of the Past" at website of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- see http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html

• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Russia
• United Kingdom
• USA

• European Union

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Priorities

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.

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.

Agenda

Global health was first introduced as an agenda at this G8 summit in 2000.

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.

A picture of Shureimon appears on the Japanese 2,000 yen note, released in 2000 in commemoration of the summit in Okinawa; and the Japanese government encountered criticism for having spent more than $750 million to hold this event.

Namie Amuro's song "Never End" was made for the summit.

Gallery of participating leaders

Core G8 participants

File:Jean Chrétien 1993.jpg|Canada Canada Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister File:Jacques Chirac (1997) (cropped).jpg|France France Jacques Chirac, President File:Giuliano Amato 2001 (cropped).jpg|Italy Italy Giuliano Amato, Prime Minister File:Yoshiro Mori 20000405.jpg|Japan Japan Yoshiro Mori, Prime Minister (Host) File:Vladimir Putin official portrait (cropped).jpg|Russia Russia Vladimir Putin, President File:Tony Blair 1997.jpg|United Kingdom United Kingdom Tony Blair, Prime Minister File:Bill Clinton.jpg|United States United States Bill Clinton, President File:Romano Prodi 1999 (cropped).jpg|EU European Union Romano Prodi, Commission President

Notes

References

• Bayne, Nicholas and Robert D. Putnam. (2005). Staying together: the G8 summit confronts the 21st century. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing. ; OCLC 217979297
• Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations. London: Routledge. ; ; OCLC 39013643

References

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3. Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt3AzOHtXwgC&dq=G7+summit&pg=PA205 ''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations,'' p. 205.]
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11. MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/photo/p11.html Mori arrival, 20 July 2000 afternoon]; [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2000okinawa/delegation.htm 2000 Okinawa G-8, delegations.]
12. MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/photo/p17.html Putin arrival, 20 July 2000 afternoon]; [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2000okinawa/delegation.htm 2000 Okinawa G-8, delegations.]
13. MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/photo/p8.html Blair arrival, 20 July 2000 afternoon]; [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2000okinawa/delegation.htm 2000 Okinawa G-8, delegations.]
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15. MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/photo/p1.html Prodi arrival, 18 July 2000]; [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2000okinawa/delegation.htm 2000 Okinawa G-8, delegations]; [http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php "EU and the G8"] {{webarchive. link. (February 26, 2007)
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18. Sims, Calvin. "Group of 8 Pledges to Help Poor Countries," ''New York Times.'' July 24, 2000.
19. Watts, Jonathan. (2000-07-24). "Okinawa diary". [[guardian.co.uk]].