CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Every year as the world's most powerful leaders leave their summit, they wonder if there is a more efficient way of hashing out solutions to global troubles.
And each time the Group of Eight leaders decide it is worth braving the protests and the cost that has now mounted to the hundreds of millions of dollars.
There's nothing like looking a president in the eye and pressing the flesh, even if is cheaper to hold a "virtual" summit through videoconferencing -- an idea floated briefly this week by France.
"Modern technology will inevitably develop. It costs less, but it has limits," said French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday night, at the conclusion of a two-day meeting at the tiny Rockies resort of Kananaskis, an hour's drive from Calgary.
"Men are men. You don't talk to a screen the same way you talk to a friend or to someone in front of you. Human contact is essential."
This year's G8 chairman, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, held three separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin to nail down an agreement worth up to $20 billion on helping Russia get rid of its nuclear weapons.
The leaders or their deputies haggled over language on helping Africa before they were able to come up with an "action plan," even if critics argue that it had to be watered down to get everybody on board.
And they examined the crises of the day, from U.S. President George W. Bush 's proposals on the Middle East to dangers in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan .
"Was there a way of doing it differently or cheaply? Basically they concluded there wasn't," a Chretien aide said.
"They could not have done what they did over the past three days by e-mail."
No host can afford to go light on security at a meeting involving the leaders of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, especially now given the military involvement of some of them in Afghanistan.
While terrorist attacks are one concern, another is the now-perennial presence of demonstrators, who in Europe can often engage in violent clashes with security forces.
With the leaders isolated in the middle of a forest valley at Kananaskis, activists did not get near them and the protests were diffused across the country.
Chretien, who admits to having organized protests in his student days, said they are a regular part of democracy and he delighted that among the most dramatic event was a group who bared their behinds to protest Gap clothes.
"Oh, some used 'mooning' for that. I don't know what that means," he pretended.
One of the purposeful innovations was to limit the size of delegations. Kananaskis only has about 300 hotel rooms, meaning each country could only bring in no more than about 35 people. That compares with 1,000 American delegates and 800 Japanese at last year's summit at the Italian port of Genoa, and while it meant a hassle for journalists who were relegated to Calgary it meant a more intimate gathering for leaders.
"For a change, all leaders are under one roof which really makes the place where they're gathering almost a little Switzerland in that you walk down the hallway and hear many different languages," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
Chirac, still casting about for a safe site, broke with tradition at the end of this meeting by not announcing where he will host next year's summit.
But he said he would follow Canada's lead both in concentrating on Africa on substance and "in providing a climate where people can exchange views in peace and tranquillity."
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.