Group of Seven (G-7), is a prominent international forum comprising the world’s leading industrialized nations. It comprises the United States, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, and Japan. Established with the primary objective of fostering collaboration and addressing global challenges, the G-7 has played a pivotal role in shaping the global economic landscape since its inception.
It was founded in 1975 as an informal forum for the heads of state and government from seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The group came together at a time when the world was grappling with a series of economic crises and political uncertainties. Recognizing the need for enhanced cooperation and dialogue, these nations sought to establish a platform where they could collectively discuss and coordinate policies to tackle common challenges.
Read more: ‘Unified’ G7 hits Russia with new sanctions
Understanding the matter better
In the early days, the G-7 has strived to promote economic stability, sustainable development, and international cooperation. Over the years, the forum has served as a venue for open and frank discussions on pressing global issues, including financial market regulation, trade policies, climate change, and geopolitical tensions. The G-7 has consistently aimed to foster consensus and shared understanding among its member nations, ensuring that their collective actions have a positive impact on the global community.
The G-7’s objectives encompass various key areas. Firstly, it seeks to maintain strong and stable economic growth, promoting market-oriented policies that facilitate trade, investment, and job creation. The forum also aims to address global challenges, such as poverty alleviation, health crises, and climate change, through collaborative efforts and the sharing of best practices. Additionally, the G-7 strives to uphold democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law, serving as a platform to discuss and advocate for these fundamental principles.
But, unfortunately, since the US launched an anti-China campaign and coerced Russia, the Forum has been turned into a battlefield for the US against Russia and China. In recent several years, the Forum was used only for countering China and Russia. All of the joint statements at the end of Summits include anti-China and Anti-Russia sentiments. Group Seven lost its original aims and objectives totally and became a political playground. The US has been using it to achieve its political goals merely.
Under this scenario, the Group is divided and faces resistance internally, especially the sensible public in these countries criticizing it often. In the last several years, at the summit meeting, there were protests and agitations against the group’s politicization.
Read more: G7 vows ‘severe costs’ for those helping Russia in Ukraine
The recent summit held in Japan was even more visible, as more protesters took to the streets, Group of Seven (G7) nations wrapped up their three-day gathering here on Sunday, vowing to escalate sanctions against Russia amid the Ukraine crisis.
Following days of protests, hundreds of demonstrators from home and abroad on Sunday rallied against the G7 leaders’ communique and other documents adopted by the summit in Hiroshima, a city once devastated by U.S. atomic bombing during World War II.
Placards and banners that read “No War-themed Conference,” “Hands off on Ukraine,” and “No to Japan-U.S. military alliance” were spotted in Fukuromachi Park, where the protesters were gathering on Sunday morning, not far from the Peace Memorial Park that was shut due to the summit leaders’ visit.
Chanting slogans such as “No to War” and “Smash the G7 Hiroshima Summit,” they rallied along the main streets in Hiroshima, crowded by hundreds of riot police officers. They ran into physical conflict with the police in a downtown high street, where one of the protesters was arrested, but continued with the rally minutes later.
“To summarize, it is never a peaceful summit,” Ryo Miyahara, head of a Hiroshima citizens’ group and the protest’s organizer, told Xinhua at the demonstration site.
The way forward
While vowing to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” in the final joint statement, the G7 nations, with the United States taking the lead, announced specific measures to sanction Russia in a standalone statement on Ukraine on Friday, prior to Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky’s in-person visit starting Saturday.
U.S. President Joe Biden, on Sunday evening, announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth 375 million U.S. dollars after Biden and Zelensky met on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
The group has been used to spoil security and peace. Decisions made in the group have promoted hate, and propaganda against China and Russia complicated the geopolitics further. As a result of the Group’s summit, the world polarity has been enhanced. The Role of the group has been deviated from its original aims and objectives. It should have been rather abolished to promote peace, stability, and development in the entire world.
Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Founding Chair GSRRA, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, and Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization). (E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com). The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.