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G8 is the term used to refer to the group of eight of the world’s richest and most powerful countries, namely the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Canada. It’s formation was solidified in 1976 as a response to a global economic crisis represented by a rise in oil prices, inflation and unemployment. The coming together of the G8 was an attempt by leaders of these nations to stabilize the world economy and guarantee the ability of capital to continue to function effectively. Click on the link below for more details on the G8 and links to recent critical articles on the G8 summit.

The Origins of the G8

G8 is the term used to refer to the group of eight of the world’s richest and most powerful countries, namely the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Canada. It’s formation was solidified in 1976 as a response to a global economic crisis represented by a rise in oil prices, inflation and unemployment. The coming together of the G8 was an attempt by leaders of these nations to stabilize the world economy and guarantee the ability of capital to continue to function effectively.

The G8 has long been a focus for pressure from groupings demanding a fairer global deal for the world’s marginalized, but critics contend that efforts by the G8 to deal with this pressure have been inadequate and characterized by a sequence of broken promises.

Central to criticisms of the G8 is that it has a single-minded focus on free trade as the answer to the world’s development problems. Opponents of the G8 see this as the reason why billions continue to be mired in poverty. While G8 leaders have become good at demonstrating an apparent heart felt empathy for the world’s poor, ample evidence is available to demonstrate that these rich countries operate foremost in their own interest rather than take decisions that would result in a better world. For example, recent reports released ahead of this year’s summit indicate the a large amount of aid intended for Africa is actually spent on consultants, while the UK is still involved in shipping arms to conflict hotspots. (The above three paragraphs were compiled from information available from https://www4.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/314377.html; http://www.redpepper.org.uk/ and http://www.pambazuka.org)

Around the web: Critical commentaries on the G8 summit

* What is the G8?
So far, not a single country has kept its word to increase spending on international development to just 0.7 per cent of national income, says this article from www.redpepper.org.uk/. In Gleneagles this year, the G8 elite party will cost a staggering £150 million.
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/

* The Commission for Africa and corporate involvement
Ahead of the G8 summit, Corporate Watch exposes how major multinational companies have had an influence on shaping the response of G8 leaders to the world poverty crisis. “Corporate integration into the shaping of international policy has become obvious, seamless, normal,” says the article.
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=1535

* Selling Africa short
British finance minister Gordon Brown said in February that the G8 meeting (G7 plus Russia) in Scotland on 6-8 July will be known as the "100% debt relief summit". Alex Wilks of the European Network on Debt and Development explains why the rhetoric is disturbing.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-summits/debt_2616.jsp

* The G8 Summit: A Fraud And A Circus
John Pilger argues that Tony Blair’s "vision for Africa" is as patronising and exploitative as a stage full of white pop stars, and that in reality Blair could not give “two flying faeces for the people of Africa”.
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-06/24pilger.cfm

* The economics of failure: The real cost of ‘free’ trade for poor countries
A Christian Aid briefing document argues that trade liberalization has cost sub-Saharan Africa US$272 billion over the past 20 years. "Had they not been forced to liberalise as the price of aid, loans and debt relief, sub- Saharan African countries would have had enough extra income to wipe out their debts and have sufficient left over to pay for every child to be vaccinated and go to school."
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/indepth/506liberalisation/Economics%20of%...

Neither the G8, nor Live 8
The Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt issued a statement slamming the Live 8 concerts for missing the fundamental point that any initiative aiming to fight poverty without involving the poor is doomed to failure.
http://www.cadtm.org/article.php3?id_article=1499

‘Africa needs justice not charity’
Green Left Weekly states that for Africa to escape the nightmare in which it has been plunged by centuries of slavery, colonialism and imperialist exploitation a new, just and equal system of international economic relations will be required.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/631/631p28.htm

Africa’s new best friends
The history of corporate involvement in Africa is one of forced labour, evictions, murder, wars, the under-costing of resources, tax evasion and collusion with dictators, writes George Monbiot, who asks how corporations can be put in charge of solving poverty.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1521411,00.html