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THE TARTAN TALKS – GLENEAGLES 2005 The tartan talks – Gleneagles 2005

The G8, Gleneagles, Scotland, July 2005: the US election well over, a UK election perhaps also fought and won. Do the G8 meetings achieve anything other than large security bills? Nicholas Bayne, Shinichiro Uda and Heidi Ullrich covered the Sea Island G8 in 2004 and found some cause for optimism.

ony Blair was active at Sea Island, especially having a shorter agenda and less documentation. on Middle East issues. But he was also These reforms rejuvenated the G8 summit, so that Tthinking ahead to the next G8 summit, Birmingham and the four summits that followed, up which he expects to host and chair at Gleneagles to Kananaskis in 2002, were more productive than in July 2005. those that went before. It is rare for a leader to host a summit more than Evian in 2003 and Sea Island this year showed once. Mitterrand, Kohl, Chirac and Chrétien of some loss of performance, with the agenda being Canada have all done it, but Blair would be the too general and the G8 documents sacrificing first British prime minister to get this chance. The quality for quantity. But these summits still had first summit he chaired, Birmingham 1998 (see the merit of reconciling the G8 members after LSE Magazine, winter 1998), introduced some the deep divisions caused by Iraq. Blair wants fundamental reforms to the summit process: adding the Gleneagles summit to return to the earlier Russia to make G7 into G8; allowing the leaders to simplicity, with a precise agenda of two or three meet on their own, without supporting ministers; items only. He has already said publicly that one

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President Chirac and President Bush at G8’s Sea Island summit, 2004. The 2005 summit will be at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire (pictured below) HEIDI ULLRICH HEIDI ULLRICH GLENEAGLES

priority subject should be Africa and a second the again. Finance will be another, with the hope of preparations and this is bound to prevail in the global environment, especially climate change. reaching agreement on the International Finance run-up to Gleneagles. Blair is also on record as Africa was on the summit agenda at Genoa in Facility proposed by . favouring wider outreach to leading developing 2001 and was the main subject at Kananaskis (LSE While the G8 has moved Africa up its agenda, countries, though he is more cautious on Magazine, winter 2002). There the G8 agreed an the global environment has had less prominence. enlarging the G8 by admitting more countries. Africa Action Plan, which was closely linked to the It is necessary to go back to the Rio conference In recent years, especially since 11 September New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). of 1992 to find major summit successes in the 2001, the G8 summit has moved away from its The main proponents of NEPAD – presidents Mbeki environment. Before Rio, the summit could agree original economic agenda and towards giving of South Africa, Obasanjo of , Wade of in urging all countries to pay more attention to priority to political issues, or at least those where Senegal and Bouteflika of Algeria – took part in the protecting the environment, both through economics and politics are apparently inseparable, Kananaskis summit. They were invited back to domestic policies and international agreements. like Africa and the Middle East. The summit has Evian and Sea Island and Blair expects to invite But once the debate moved to specific issues like been quite successful in areas where international them again to Gleneagles. climate change and biodiversity, a deep division action is required, but less effective when The G8 Africa Plan, like NEPAD, covers peace- opened between European (and Japanese) domestic policies need to be adapted, for example keeping, standards of governance and economic enthusiasts and North American sceptics. While in agriculture. In his approach to next year’s development. The main achievement at Sea Island in Europe policy was driven by consumers and Gleneagles summit, Blair is returning to the was agreement on G8 support for African peace- civil society activists, in the US it was dominated mainstream economic agenda of trade, finance and keeping operations, in the form of training and by producers and business interests in energy, the environment. He has chosen issues where G8 transport facilities. But economic progress has not agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Because of members need to take difficult domestic decisions kept pace with this. The G8 have promised to this transatlantic divide, the G8 members have in order to reach durable international agreement. increase their aid to Africa, but have not offered steadily moved apart on environmental issues. At He is seeking to simplify the summit process and more market access for African exports nor Gleneagles, Blair hopes to reverse this trend and make it more transparent and accessible. In this improved the terms of debt relief, though that is to find ways of bridging the gap. way he is trying to revive the original virtues of the what the African leaders want most. The reforms that Blair introduced at summit process and adapt them to the conditions Blair will aim to have Gleneagles make real Birmingham seven years ago cut the leaders of advancing globalisation. advances in helping Africa escape from poverty loose from their bureaucratic apparatus. This and meet the Millennium Development Goals gave them greater freedom to develop wider links What Sea Island achieved for education and health. The G8 are already with other forces – with non-G8 governments, The G8 Sea Island summit in June 2004 marked the associating non-G8 countries, international with private sector movements in business, and 30th gathering of the annual meeting of leaders of institutions and African governments with this with civil society. This wider outreach is essential if the major industrialised countries. However, in many process, through the African Partners Group. Blair the G8 summit is to be effective and carry ways Sea Island showed the signs of an ‘institution’ has created a new Commission for Africa, bringing conviction in today’s globalising world. But the still in the early stages of maturity: confident in its in the private sector alongside G8 and African Sea Island summit made only limited advances in aims and abilities, but somewhat unsure of its governments and aiming to generate more public this field and the Americans did not act to methods. Initially established to discuss economic awareness of what needs to be done for Africa. associate civil society bodies with G8’s work. The issues of common concern to its members, the Sea Trade will be one essential component, now that British, on the other hand, have a strong tradition Island G8 continued a summit trend of expanding

the Doha Development Agenda is moving forward of involving business and civil society in summit its agenda to include political, security, and social ▼

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and G8 countries can strengthen their dialogue expense with security bill estimates as high as $35 on bringing about reform. Additional initiatives million. The 350 demonstrators, many of whom include increasing literacy by 20 million people in were peaceful members of Falun Gong, were the region by 2015 through the training of 100,000 therefore estimated to cost around $100,000 each. teachers, and strengthening entrepreneurship Unlike previous host organising committees, through microfinance, vocational training and the US organisers required journalists and private enterprise activities. broadcasters to purchase workstations and The G8 also adopted a bold Action Plan on supplies. Perhaps this and the time-consuming Non-Proliferation in which leaders reaffirmed two-stage accreditation process explained why commitments on nuclear nonproliferation made at nearly half the workstations in the Media Centre Kananaskis in 2002 and Evian as well as supporting remained unoccupied. And, for all that Sea Island measures to increase the effectiveness of the was highly stage managed, fewer leaders than at International Atomic Energy Agency. The leaders previous summits visited the Media Centre for a also broadened a previous initiative in both traditional final press conference. ■ substance and scope through the Action Plan on The University of Glasgow will host a Expanding Global Capability for Peace Support conference on 29-30 June 2005 on Operations, which includes commitments to train Development, Sustainability and Finance and equip 75,000 troops globally by 2010 for – the Role of the G8 and the Gleneagles both regional and international peace support Summit. More details about this operations. The G8 was quick to add that all such conference will be available on activities would be carried out in line with the United www.gla.ac.uk from early 2005. Nations Charter. The G8 statement on trade was stronger than in 2003 but failed to make longer term HEIDI ULLRICH commitments. Several documents showed the G8 leaders included , UK prime minister and Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister of Japan G8’s faith in market forces and developments in A Gleneagles simulation science and technology for increasing prosperity, During 2004-05, graduate students taking improving health, and protecting the environment. the Economic Diplomacy option in LSE’s topics of concern to both members and non- G8 agreed to ‘take all necessary steps’ to eliminate International Relations Department will members, as well as launching several new polio by 2005 as well as to support the conduct a simulation of the Gleneagles programmes that strengthen its role in the collective development of an HIV vaccine through a global G8 summit. Students will be allocated management of the international system. consortium of scientists, funded with an initial to different G8 countries in teams of two, However, the summit also signalled a break in donation of $15 million from the United Nations. The with four representing the UK chair. several earlier positive initiatives regarding how to 3R Action Plan and Progress for Implementation achieve these aims, such as participating in an Initiative committed G8 members to reduce, reuse enlarged dialogue with key developing countries, and recycle their products and materials. engaging with civil society – at the Okinawa G8 The content and scope of the commitments and summit in 2000 and Evian in 2003, the host action plans agreed at Sea Island showed that government made strides in acknowledging the the institution of this summit has benefited from voice of civil society, providing civil society its 30 years of experience. However, the G8’s representatives with their own centre near the inconsistency in incorporating the views of other summit site. The US, however, made no provision actors in the development of its plans as well its Nicholas Bayne for civil society to be heard, or for achieving a good plethora of complex documentation reveal that the is a fellow of the International Trade Policy Unit at LSE. balance in the quantity and quality of the summit still lacks the wisdom that comes with His new book on the G8 summits, Staying Together, will be published in spring 2005. documentation – in Birmingham in 1998, Blair maturity. The 2005 G8 at Gleneagles provides Tony advocated a return to the original summit tradition Blair with another opportunity to urge the summit to of a single communiqué. Sea Island produced 15 act its age. statements and action plans. As host, the US established the three themes Shivering in Savannah of the summit: freedom, security and prosperity. While the leaders enjoyed warm ocean breezes and Although not officially on the agenda, Iraq was the sandy beaches on Sea Island, the 3,500 members Shinichiro Uda source of much of the discussion, division, and of the press shivered in near freezing temperatures, is president of the LSE International Social Economic arguably the most far-reaching action plans thanks to over-zealous air conditioning, at the Forum in Japan. He has written on globalisation and produced at Sea Island. Two key documents International Media Centre 80 miles inland in the city the role of the G8 summits. emerged. The first established a Partnership for of Savannah. Progress and a Common Future in the Region of The Media Centre was on the banks of the the Broader Middle East and North Africa based Savannah River across from the historic heart on common values such as human dignity, of old Savannah. Representatives of the press were freedom, democracy and social justice. Second rapidly transported across the river in restored was the G8 Plan of Support for Reform governing ferries, but then endured long waits as police the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, checked their bags. Security was tight not only in Heidi Ullrich (PhD Government 2002) is a visiting lecturer in consisting of eight new initiatives. Institutionally, the Centre but throughout the city. Due to fears of LSE’s Department of Government. She has written the Plan establishes a Forum for the Future in a terrorist attack or the massive protests seen at on the role of the G8 in providing leadership in trade which the foreign and finance ministers of regional the 2001 Genoa summit, the US spared no and increasing its accountability.

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