G8

Recommendations to the US administration from the US Center for Strategic and International Studies: CSIS COMMISSION ON SMART POWER: A smarter, more secure America

Extracts:


Currently the Group of Eight (G-8) Summit brings together the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States on a yearly basis to shape a common strategic agenda. Key countries are excluded, however, and to most Americans, the summit appears little more than a talk shop and photo-opportunity.

The G-8 has made efforts since 2005 to reach out to China, Mexico, India, Brazil, and South Africa as "outreach countries" through a set of ministerial meetings on finance and energy termed the "G-8 + 5." This is a positive step, but it does not go far enough to bring together those governments who can contribute substantively to working a whole range of critical challenges.

The next administration should seek to strengthen the G-8 summit process by proposing a set
of high-level meetings on those issues routinely addressed by the G-8 that require sustained
global attention: energy and climate; nonproliferation; global health; education; and the world economy.