What was the G7 Summit all about and will the countries involved be able to live up to the agreements they made?
This past weekend leaders of the G8/G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) met in Schloss Elmau, Germany to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world today.
This year Germany had responsibility for hosting and setting the agenda. To that end, Chancellor Angela Merkel dubbed the motto “Think Ahead, Act Together.” Merkel set the agenda to include discussions on Russian aggression in the Ukraine (Russia was formerly a member of the G8 but is currently suspended), security threats from groups like ISIS, the global economy (especially Greece), climate change and women’s issues.
By the end of the summit the G7 leaders had agreed on the following:
- Should Russia not begin implementing the Minsk agreement, further sanctions would be employed.
- Coalitions need to be continued in order to assist leaders in fighting groups like ISIS and Boco Haram.
- Greece and its creditors must find ways to make necessary changes in order to pull Greece out of recession.
- Further reductions in carbon emissions by 2030 will be employed by each country in order to reduce the effects of global warming.
- Trade agreements like TTIP are essential for the development of the global economy and talks will continue to make those partnerships flourish.
- More money and initiatives will be forth coming in the advancement of women’s issues such as education, empowerment, and career training and development.
While these agreements are great ideas, and the photo ops are wonderful at sending the “united front” message, how real are they in terms of implantation and achievability?
In President Obama’s press conference at the conclusion of the summit he stated that “Russia’s actions in Ukraine are hurting Russia and hurting the Russian people…. [and that] we have made significant progress in pushing back ISIL.” While these two statements may be true in one regard, they are also in a sense false. Yes the Russian economy is weakening, but Vladimir Putin is not. Even as of May, Putin’s approval ratings were in the mid-80s. His isolation is making him stronger not weaker. Putin has already shown the world that he could care less what Obama thinks. And he is using his banishment and the sanctions as a propaganda tool to show the Russian people that the west fears a Soviet Union like Russia, and to espouse to anti-western world leaders that there is power outside the west. As far as ISIS, even though they have been pushed back in some areas they still control large parts of both Iraq and Syria. They also still continue to terrorize towns and kidnap and murder innocent people every day. Despite the coalition of agreement that groups like ISIS and Boco Haram need to be stopped, there is still no real plan of action in place.
If history is an indicator of future events, then the agreements reached at this year’s summit did little more than make for good sound bites. Over the past ten years only a hand full of the promises made at the G8/G7 Summits have been kept. While Canada has done an excellent job of delivering funds on an initiative from the 2010 summit, less than half of the funds promised in other initiatives throughout the years have been delivered. In addition, some of the agreements leaders say yes to must be implemented via domestic policies (i.e. carbon emissions and trade agreements). This means each leader must convince their parliaments or congressional bodies to go along-not always an easy task.
Is there reason to believe that this year’s summit agreements will bear better fruit? Is banishing and sanctioning Russia really working? Can the seven countries agree on an effective strategy for fighting terrorism? Will Greece default and pull down the global economy? Is global warming the most pressing issue for future generations? Only time will answer.
Image courtesy of mg.co.za
