G8 to Focus on Mideast

G8 to Focus on Mideast

Leaders from the Group of Eight (BBC)

 

are set to convene in the French resort town of Deauville today. Discussions are expected to center on the conflict in Libya and the international response to the democratic uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. With web media icons Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt in attendance, the question of Internet regulation will also be on the agenda.

In a letter sent to G8 officials ahead of the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged fellow nations to support the democratic transitions in the Arab and Muslim world, including economic aid and a debt-swap initiative for Egypt (AFP)

 

. The United States called on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help the region as it did for similar transitions in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Japanese government is hoping to win support for a trade agreement that could help revive its economy, battered by the March disasters and ensuing nuclear crisis. Prime Minister Naoto Kan is expected to push Europe to loosen trade restriction and open its borders to Japanese imports (FT)

 

.

Discussions over a replacement candidate for the managing director of the IMF (WSJ)

 

are also expected to be on the agenda. European G8 officials are throwing their support behind French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who announced her bid this week and plans to visit China, Brazil, and India in a push for the position.

Analysis:

This CFR backgrounder provides analysis of the expectations for the G8 summit

 

, where the Mideast turmoil will share top billing with nuclear safety, the Internet, leadership of the IMF, and aid to Africa.

This op-ed for the Guardian discusses Lagarde's potential to fill the lead role at the International Monetary Fund

 

--suggesting her management would mark a "radical change of style" from that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

In this op-ed for the Financial Times, Joseph Stiglitz calls on the international community to help nurture the democratic movements in the Mideast

 

and provide financial support to their ailing economies.