Lebanon overshadows G-8 summit

Even otherwise, the G-8 Summit this year ended without a tangible breakthrough on the disputes that divide them, and the two key issues, namely Russia's energy war with the EU and its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), remained unresolved with no prospect for early resolution.

Though leaders spent considerable time on Israel-Lebanon crisis, there was no agreement to stop the current round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah forces. There was no joint call for a cease fire. The declaration merely glossed over the sharp differences between President Bush's position in support of Israel and the views of other G-8 members that Israel was using excessive force in Lebanon. Bush, unaware that his private remarks to Prime Minister Blair were being picked up by the microphone, bluntly expressed his frustration with Hezbollah. In no time, the media started paying more attention to this gaffe than on the substantive discussions on the issue.

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The Declaration specifically blamed militant groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, for the current escalation of violence and asked Israel to exercise restraint. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed sending an international peace keeping force to stop the fighting between the two warring parties but there was no agreement on this proposal.

Host Putin had earmarked energy security as the top priority of this year's Summit to underscore Russia's standing as the world's second largest supplier of oil after Saudi Arabia. There was an emerging complimentary relation as Russia wanted security of demand, while the US and Europe wanted security of supply. But the devil was in details. The Western countries wanted Russia to reduce state control of its energy sector and open it to free market mechanism. With the oil prices above $75 a barrel, Putin was unwilling to toe the western line.

Russia surely needs huge foreign investments to modernize its oil industry and expand its energy exports, but Putin felt that the Western investment would not be forthcoming even if he accepted those preconditions. Given such divergences, there was no concrete progress and the Summit declaration essentially voiced vague free market commitments.

Putin's bigger humiliation, however, was his inability to get the endorsement of Washington to his country's longstanding bid for WTO membership. He was hoping that his "friend" Bush would concede at the Summit and let his country join the group. But Americans were in no mood to overlook Moscow's refusal to open its market to food imports and deal with computer and DVD piracy. This deadlock eventually robbed him the public relations success he wanted as the Summit host.

Another major disappointment was the Summit's failure to make real progress on the Doha round of WTO trade talks. The leaders of China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil were invited by the G-8 leaders for discussions on key trade issues before the WTO round of talks. It was soon apparent that the gulf between the interests of rich and poor nations was too wide and needed to be bridged.

The talks were aimed at persuading the industrialized countries to reduce their agricultural subsidies and to cut tariffs on agricultural imports from poor countries. In exchange, the industrialized powers had hoped to persuade the developing countries to open their markets to industrial goods and services. The talks, however, produced no breakthrough as it was evident that instead of reducing agricultural subsidies, the US and European Union members have, in fact, continued to increase their farm subsidies. Without offering any new proposal, the G-8 leaders merely extended their deadline for negotiations to mid-August, and left it to their respective ministers to resolve the issue. It is unlikely that the ministers would be able to negotiate an agreement within a month.

The biggest losers in St. Petersburg seem to be the Least Developed Countries, mostly from Africa. They could make only modest gains as compared to the generous $50 billion debt cancellation package which was offered to them at last year's Summit. Putin had limited interest on the issue. Consequently, there was hardly any forward movement on the subject at the Summit and it did not get the attention it deserved. The only encouraging news that emanated from the parley is German Chancellor Angela Merkel's promise to make poverty the top priority issue at the next year's G-8 Summit, which her nation will be hosting.

It is a pity that the poverty issue has been addressed by the G-8 leaders only in the context of African countries for the last five years although more people live below the poverty line in South Asia than in any other region of the world. The G-8 leaders had invited our former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with other LDC leaders to the G-8 Summit in Genoa, Italy in July 2001. Bangladesh had received the attention in view of her successful poverty alleviation programs at government and non-government levels and also on account of her effective Chairmanship of the LDC group.

After the change of government in October 2001, Bangladesh lost interest in the LDC group and we have also fallen behind in reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Consequently, Bangladesh was not invited to the last five G-8 Summits. India and China have been attending the G-8 Summits for the last four years as emerging Asian powers. But who will speak for the poor people of Asia? Since Germany is showing renewed interest on poverty alleviation issues, Bangladesh should strive to restore her position and play a prominent role at the next G-8 Summit.

The G-8 leaders also focused on more traditional summit fare, but the issue of nuclear proliferation got more prominent attention. The leaders categorically asked North Korea to stop its missile tests and to abandon its nuclear program. As regards Iran, the leaders expected that Iran would react positively to the concrete incentives being offered to them for the development of civilian technology and not try to make nuclear weapons.

Putin had also set out to focus on three global issues, that is, infectious diseases (mostly bird flu, malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS), education and terrorism. On the first two issues the Summit called for usual greater international cooperation, but on the third it was more categorical. The Summit expressed outrage over recent bombings of commuter trains and the leaders expressed their resolve to fight terrorism "by all legitimate means."

The justconcluded G-8 summit has once again demonstrated that the members lack political will to reach any breakthrough on the issues that divide them. Furthermore, the members have different sets of priorities and this is reflected when the host country fixes the agenda. As noted earlier, the poverty issue was at the top of the agenda at the last Summit in Scotland, but this year the issue was relegated to a much lower rung. This lack of continuity will surely create credibility gap for the Group in the international arena.

The top seven industrialized countries account for 65% of global economy and, naturally, their pronouncements and actions have direct bearing on global economic scene. The G-8 Summits are, therefore, viewed with utmost importance by the policy circles all over the world and the Group should address the pressing global issues on a sustained basis. Otherwise, the group would soon lose its primacy and relevance.

Syed Muazzem Ali is a former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.