G-8's Relevance is Unclear - Don Lee, Los Angeles Times

G-8's Relevance is Unclear - Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-summit6-2008jul06,0,7781731.story

As leaders of the world's major developed nations meet this week in a tranquil mountain resort in Japan, their gathering probably will be overshadowed by the turbulent global economy and deepening unrest over soaring oil and food prices. And the question on many minds is whether the Group of 8 leaders will be able to do anything about it.


Man-Made Hunger - New York Times editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/opinion/06sun1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

Thirty countries have already seen food riots this year. The ever higher cost of food could push tens of millions of people into abject poverty and starvation. To a large degree, this crisis is man-made - the result of misguided energy and farm policies. When President Bush and other heads of state of the Group of 8 leading industrial nations meet in Japan this week, they must accept their full share of responsibility and lay out clearly what they will do to address this crisis. To start, they must live up to their 2005 commitment to vastly increase aid to the poorest countries. And they must push other wealthy countries, like those in the Middle East, to help too. That will not be enough. They must also commit to reduce, or even better, do away with their most egregious agricultural and energy subsidies, which contribute to the spread of hunger throughout the world.


Bloc-Buster Idea: Make It The G-3 - Jim Hoagland, Washington Post opinion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402089.html

John McCain would kick Russia out of the Group of Eight economic powers that meet in Japan this week. But this is no time to think small. The G-8 leaders themselves should declare surrender and disband their high-profile huddle on the state of the world. Think of it as global shock therapy: Using the July 7-9 summit on Hokkaido Island to abandon the bloated, unwieldy G-8 format would be a first step toward acknowledging and rethinking -- at the highest level -- these important international realities.