Group of Eight
Not a formal international organization such as the United Nations or OECD, the Group of Eight (G-8), (G8) consists of the heads of government of eight major countries
| Country | UN Security Council | Nuclear weapons |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | No | No |
| France | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | No | No |
| Italy | No | No |
| Japan | No | No |
| Russia | Yes | Yes |
| United Kingdom | Yes | Yes |
| United States | Yes | Yes |
The G-8 focus is more on conflict and less economics of the Group of Seven and Group of Twenty. Some meetings are composed of foreign ministers or other senior but lower-level officials.
2010 meeting
The most recent ministerial meeting was held on 30 March 2010, in Gatineau, Quebec, and chaired by Foreign Minister of Canada Lawrence Cannon. It will be followed, in June, by a heads of government meeting. Before the March meeting, Cannon said that the major topics would be related to global security:[1]
- Afghanistan-Pakistan border issues and the Taliban
- Iranian nuclear program
- strategies for dealing with “vulnerable states."
While Iran and Yemen topped the discussion at the meeting, it also dealt with specifics of Afghanistan and Pakistan, North Korea, Africa, Burma and Haiti, and regional issues of the Middle East and Latin America.[2]
Iran
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said ""We exchanged views, discussed the importance of the international community addressing the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran. And I, for one, was very satisfied by the results of that conversation. But I think it's important to underscore that the negotiating forum that we are all focused on is the United Nations Security Council. Some of us are members, others of us are not, but all of us share a concern on behalf of the international community.[2]
Yemen
High in the third category was assisting the Republic of Yemen improve its stability. As a result both of the G-8 meeting and the January 2010 London conference on Yemen, a "Friends of Yemen" group met on 4 June at the German Foreign Office. The "Friends" consist of delegations from the G8 countries, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund] and the World Bank, and the government of Yemen. [3]
References
- ↑ Mike Blanchfield (14 February 2010), Afghanistan, Iran to top G8 meeting in Canada, Canadian Press
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Iran dominates G8 foreign ministers meeting, CBC News, 30 March 2010
- ↑ “Friends of Yemen” meet at the Federal Foreign Office, German Foreign Office, 3 June 2010