Informal Forums

G7 (Group of 7) Beg. 1976 in Cold War Canada; France; Japan; Germany; UK; USA; Italy (EU also repp’d) 7 major advanced economies per IMF > 64% of net global wealth ($263 trillion) Heads of gov’t meet to discuss econ. policies May 2016: 42nd summit in Japan The European Union has participated fully in the G7 since 1981 as a "nonenumerated" member. It is represented by the presidents of the European Council, which represents the EU member states' leaders, and the European Commission, the EU's executive body. There is no formal criteria for membership, but participants are all developed democracies.

G8 G7 + 1 became G8 w/ addition of Russia in 1998 Russia suspended in March 2014 after annexation of Crimea (Ukraine)  so, now operating as G7 Maybe back in 2017? Y8 Summit! 

https://www. theguardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/jun/18/g8-leaders-caption-competition

G20 Beg. 1999 (big brother of G8) Goal – int’l financial stability  “big issues” (fixing/ preventing economic crises) 19 individual countries + EU (G8 + Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, S. Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey) ~85% of gross world product; 80% of world trade; 2/3 world population

Praise & Criticism of G-summits Good!  Bad!  Smaller grp = more efficient? Works w/ issues not solved elsewhere Expansion past G8 = impt emerging countries Informal  dialogue! Forum, not supranational Host = prestige Self-appointed Exclusive (even G20 is 1/5 of world’s countries) Weight of G8-ers in G20 Legitimacy? Africa? Follow-through? Informal + or -? Relies on orgs to address identified issues

CNN Explains: G-What? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m54CvSWKiMI

World Economic Forum Est. 1971 public-private cooperation (CEOs + heads of state + policy-makers + academics + orgs + etc) Meet 4x/yr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWP9kPzaBBo