In response to the political and economic challenges of the time, informal meetings were held at the White House in Washington, DC in the 1970’s, involving several of the major countries of the world. Labeled the “Library Group,” it became clear that an ongoing forum among world powers was needed.
Later, France and Germany called for a more formal summit, with the major industrialized nations of the world coming to the table. France hosted the first summit in 1975, and the “Group of Six,” or G6, was officially on its way.
The tradition continues today, with an annual summit held in a location selected by that year’s host country on a rotating basis. Today’s G8 is Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, and USA. In recent times, other important countries have attended the summit, to include Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and the EU.
The relevance of the G8 and the usefulness of the such summits is debatable. The events have drawn widespread protest, with varying degrees of violence and property damage, interspersed with peaceful activism and with crowds of the curious. In 2012, the host country is the USA and the summit will be held at Camp David, Maryland on May 19-20, 2012.
Camp David is a military installation about 100 miles outside of Washington, DC, USA. The secluded and well protected retreat was selected by President Obama on March 5, 2012 after much earlier announcements that the summit would run concurrent with the NATO summit scheduled to take place in Chicago, IL, USA.
Source:chicagog8.com
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