The Group of Eight (G8) Summit of the western powers also known as the rich nations was held recently in Italy where top leaders including American President Barack Obama attended lending hope that some of the impending crisis facing the global community could be heard and necessary action taken. However, much to the disappointment, the G8 gathering could not take any firm stand on some of the world’s biggest concerns such as poverty, water, conflicts etc. For instance, the Global campaign group ‘End Water Poverty’ has slammed the G8 failure to stand by poor communities. Among a host of failures at the Summit, critics point out that the G8 have broken last year’s promise to finally tackle the global water and sanitation crisis. As per data made available, since the G8 last met in Hokkaido, over 1.4 million children have died from diarrhoea as a result of a lack safe water and toilets – ‘a scandalous human cost’. There is growing fear that this problem will continue after the latest G8 neglect and inaction.
In fact it would not be wrong to suggest that the G8 grouping be done away with or at the least, the permanent membership of the G8 be expanded to include more representatives from Asia, Africa and Latin America. At present the G8 includes the United States, France, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy and lastly Russia which has been a recent addition. It is surprising that despite the changes in the global order and emergence of economic powerhouses such as China and India, the thinking that the small grouping of erstwhile ‘great powers’ can continue to influence global affairs is erroneous and ignores the new political reality. There is enough reason to argue the case for expanding the G8 and to include countries such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Egypt etc. Today we are living in an era of global warming and terrorism the two biggest challenges. The cold war is long over. Even the post-cold war is now a recent memory. The era of political alliances is over. What we are witnessing today is increased economic cooperation and inter-dependence besides the multiple challenges which requires a truly global response. The world can no longer remain at the mercy of a few privileged countries, whose only claim to its present status is the past colonial dominance. Except for the US which remains the sole super power, countries such as Britain and Italy are woefully short of remaining where they are. Some of the emerging powers such as India and China deserve a place at the top.
The world is today in need of finding solutions to many of the biggest challenges facing mankind from terrorism, climate change, poverty, diseases to resolving conflicts in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. All this can be addressed only if there is a greater concert of nations and peoples whose voice and leadership will be required to bring solutions to many of our problems. The platform of the G8 is insufficient and not credible anymore. This calls for a change towards more democratization of the new world order. As some critics have pointed out, this year’s G8 has confirmed many people’s worst fears that so many of the world’s richest countries are prepared to run away from their commitments. The G8 needs more than a reality check. It requires a major overhaul and a new vision and direction.
