38th G8 summit

Summit logo

The 38th G8 summit was held at Camp David, Maryland in the United States on May 18-19, 2012.[1] The summit venue was moved from Chicago to rural Maryland in March 2012.[2]

History

The Camp David summit of the Group of Eight (G8) was the 38th meeting in a series which began in 1976.[3]

Previous G8 summits have been hosted by the United States at San Juan, Puerto Rico (1976); Williamsburg, Virginia (1983); Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado (1997) and Sea Island, Georgia.[4]

The G8 and the summit are part of a consultation process. The G8 is not an international organization.[5] It is an informal group.[6]

Participants

The participants were the "core members" of the group:[7]

Core G8 members
Host nation and leader are indicated in bold text.
Member Represented by Title
  Canada Stephen Harper[8] Prime Minister
  France François Hollande[9] President
  Germany Angela Merkel[9] Chancellor
  Italy Mario Monti[10] Prime Minister
  Japan Yoshihiko Noda[11] Prime Minister
  Russia Dmitry Medvedev[12] Prime Minister
  United Kingdom David Cameron[13] Prime Minister
  United States Barack Obama[8] President
  European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso[9] President
European Council Herman Van Rompuy[9] President

Invited leaders

 
Food security was the focus of a working lunch with African leaders who were invited.

A number of national leaders are traditionally invited to attend the summit. They are asked to participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities. The leaders of four African nations were invited by the US president:

The G8 leaders talked about making progress towards food security in Africa.[15]

Others were invited, including:

Schedule and Agenda

 
President Barack Obama hosts a working dinner on May 18. Seated clockwise from the President are: David Cameron, Dmitry Medvedev, Angela Merkel, Herman Van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso, Yoshihiko Noda, Mario Monti, Stephen Harper and François Hollande.

The summit is intended as a venue for resolving differences among the G8 members.[17]

Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda.[18]

Discussions at the 38th G8 summit included some issues from previous summits.[19]

The G8 discussions included a range of topics, including

  • Energy[20]
  • Afghanistan[20]
  • Changes taking place across the Middle East and North Africa[20]
  • Climate change[20]
  • Food security[20]
  • Greece in the euro zone[21]
  • Iran’s nuclear energy plans[21]
  • Nutrition[20]

Protesters and demonstrations

 
Security in the region of the presidential home at Camp David is well established

Planners anticipated protest groups and other activists.[22]

When the venue for the summit was changed from Chicago, a White House spokesman said security and the possibility of protests were not factors in the decision.[23] Some protest groups took credit for the change of venue.[24]

Business opportunity

For some, the G8 summit was a profit-generating event; as for example, the G8 Summit magazines which have been published since 1998.[25]

Local businesses near Camp David are expecting more people in the area and profits because of the summit.[26]

38th G8 Summit Media

Related pages

References

  1. "G-8 summit to be held at Camp David, not Chicago" Chicago Tribune. March 5 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  2. G8 Information Centre, "White House Announces Change in Location and Date of 2012 G8 Summit," March 5, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-20.
  3. US Dept. of State, About the G8; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  4. G20/G8 France 2011, What is G8? ("Previous summits" section) Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-5-21
  5. G20-G8 France 2011, What is G8? ("Language" section) Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-5-21.
  6. US Dept. of State, G8 Frequently Asked Questions ("How does the G8 work?" section); retrieved 2012-5-21.
  7. Rieffel, Lex. "Regional Voices in Global Governance: Looking to 2010 (Part IV)," Archived 2010-06-03 at the Wayback Machine Brookings. March 27, 2009; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "G8 leaders arrive at Camp David," Archived 2012-05-21 at the Wayback Machine Globe and Mail (Canada) May 19, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Sherwell, Philip. "World leaders gather in the woods outside Washington for G8 summit," Telegraph (UK). May 19, 2012 ; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Flyn, Cal. "G8 summit: Who's on the guest list," Telegraph (UK). 18 May 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  11. Toko Sekiguchi. "At G8, A Special Wish for Birthday Boy Noda," Wall Street Journal (US). May 19, 2012; excerpt, "...a chocolate cake, complete with candles, was promptly delivered in front of Mr. Noda, who celebrates his 55th birthday on Sunday"; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  12. Clover, Charles and Geoff Dyer. "Putin to skip G8 Camp David summit," Financial Times. May 10, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  13. PoliticsHome.com, "David Cameron: I will get things done at the G8 summit" Archived 2012-05-19 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-5-20.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Quandzie, Ekow. "President Mills to talk Africa’s food security at G-8 Summit on Obama invitation," Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine Ghana MMA. May 4, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  15. WhiteHouse.gov, "Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Invitation to African Leaders to Join Camp David Summit," May 3, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  16. Domfeh, Kofi Adu. "AGRA issues strong call for G8 leaders to support African agriculture," Modern Ghana. 18 May 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  17. Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations, p. 205.
  18. UPI, "Italy Knocked for Alleged poor G8 Planning", July 7, 2009; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  19. Traynot, Ian et al. "G8 at Camp David: what the world wants to achieve," Guardian (UK). 17 May 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 WhiteHouse.gov, "Wrapping Up the G8 Summit at Camp David"; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Trifunov, David. "Greece, economy top G8 summit agenda," Global Post (Canada). May 19, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  22. Balde, Lisa and Phil Rogers. "Adbusters Wants 50,000 G8/NATO Protesters in Chicago," NBCChicago (US), 27 January 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  23. "G8 summit switched to Camp David," Belfast Telegraph (UK). 6 March 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  24. McFeatters, Dale. "G8 summit moves from Chicago to Camp David," Korea Times (ROK). March 8, 2012; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  25. Prestige Media: Archived 2009-05-19 at the Wayback Machine 2012 G8 Summit Publication Distribution Archived 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-5-19.
  26. Brown, Matthew Hay. "Frederick Co. welcomes G-8 summit move to Camp David," Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine Baltimore Sun, March 6, 2012; WPMT-TV Fox43, "Businesses in Gettysburg Hoping to Cash In on G8 Summit"[dead link]; retrieved 2012-5-19.

Other websites

  Media related to 38th G8 summit at Wikimedia Commons


Preceded by
37th G8 summit
38th G8 summit
Camp David

2012
Succeeded by
39th G8 summit