Understanding the G8

The G8 is an exclusive grouping of the wealthiest advanced industrialized nations - U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Canada (otherwise known as the G7) - plus Russia. In the year 2000, the G8 accounted for a net GDP of $21.1 trillion (US$) within a total world GDP of $31.3 trillion, meaning that the G8 controls about 68% of the world's economy (see table below). In contrast, the combined populations of the G8 nations make up less than 14% of the total world population. On the basis of its economic and military strength, the G8 sets a global agenda and advances it via its members and via the various international organizations which they dominate: e.g. the IMF, the World Bank, the G20, the WTO, and so on. The G8 has no general mandate from a more legitimate international institution.

Background

The G8 derives from earlier groupings which were formed to coordinate and to promote the economic and strategic interests of the main capitalist states during the Cold War. The earliest incarnations of the G8 are shrouded in secrecy. The existence of the Brussels Group, for instance, notable primarily for its efforts to undermine early pollution control initiatives (see: Plot to undermine global pollution controls revealed), only came to light in 2001, 30 years after its formation (1971). Subsequent to the Brussels Group came the Library Group (1973 - U.S., West Germany, France, U.K. - plus Japan a year later), the 'G6' (1975 - U.S., West Germany, France, U.K, Japan, Italy), and then the G7, in which Canada was added at U.S. insistence in order to counterbalance the growing European strength (Canada was chosen for its heavy economic dependence on the U.S., which allows it to be easily manipulated). It is only since 1998 that Russia - having been successfully subdued and coerced into a Western neoliberal economic mode - has been included, thus completing the G8. Russia's role, however, is still limited, and it continues to be excluded from most of the 'ministerials' which take place in the months leading up to the annual summit.

What the G8 does...

The main work of the G8 involves the furtherance of the global neoliberalization program. This means nudging the global economy in directions which reinforce the supremacy of private and corporate interests over democratic and collective ones. In specific terms, it means favoring privatization, deregulation (i.e. reducing or eliminating environmental, health, and labor standards), capital mobility (by removing currency and investment controls), and the erosion of sovereign control over domestic economies. The G7, for instance, played an important role in advancing the Uruguay Round agenda of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), which led, in turn, to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

When there are perceived or anticipated setbacks in the advance of the neoliberal program, the G8 functions as an ad hoc executive committee to formulate corrective policies. The G8 has taken upon itself to deal with international crime, terrorism, and certain forms of financial speculation, for instance, since these types of phenomena represent threats to the steady advance of larger capitalist interests.

The G7/G8 can also be efficient at undermining initiatives which have popular support but might entail sacrifices on the part of the wealthy. The characteristic pattern has been to make promises in the spirit of popular demands, and then to appear to be incapable of reaching any agreement on how to actually realize them. Contradictions like this are made possible thanks to the G8's lack of transparency and clear process, and its lack of accountability. Significant debt repudiation, for instance, has long been promised by the G8, but the group has consistently succeeded in avoiding all but the most meagre commitments.

Recent Context

On June 26-27, 2002, the G8 held their annual summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, a posh resort area tucked away in the Rocky Mountains. The location was chosen by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in the wake of a massive outpouring of popular resistance at the previous G8 summit in Genoa - an event which was marred by shocking reports of police brutality and the tragic shooting of protester Carlo Giuliani. Determined to keep shows of political dissent in Kananaskis to a minimum, various 'anti-terrorist' bills were tabled in the Canadian parliament giving security forces broad new powers and making the exercise of civil liberties increasingly risky.

The main items on the Kananaskis agenda were:

• economic recovery,
• terrorism (especially the U.S./Canada border issue), and
• Africa - particularly the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and the so-called Africa Trust Fund which Canada initiated by committing $500 million in its December 2001 budget;