15th G7 summit
{{Short description|1989 G7 summit in La Defense, France}}
{{Infobox summit
| summit_name = 15th G7 summit
| image =La Grande Arche de la Défense.jpg
| caption = The Grande Arche in La Défense at the outskirts of Paris
| country = France
| dates = 14–16 July 1989
| venues = Grande Arche
| cities = Paris
| precedes = 16th G7 summit
| follows = 14th G7 summit
}}
The 15th G7 Summit was held in the business district of La Défense to the west of Paris, France between 14 and 16 July 1989. The venue for the summit meetings was the Grande ArcheJapan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA): [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html Summit Meetings in the Past.] which was rushed to completion for celebrations marking the bicentennial of the French Revolution and for the world economic summit meeting that was held in the top of the Arche."James, Barry. [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/01/news/01iht-arc_.html?scp=1&sq=grande%20arche%201989&st=cse For the Grande Arche, Not-So-Grand Notices,"] New York Times. July 1, 1991. This event was also called the "Summit of the Arch."Hajnal, Peter I. (1999). {{Google books|Bi5JO7FFk7UC|The G8 System and the G20: Evolution, Role and Documentation, p. 32.|page=32}}
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (since 1976),Saunders, Doug. [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080704.wG8-analysis05/BNStory/International/columnists "Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011063004/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080704.wG8-analysis05/BNStory/International/columnists |date=2008-10-11 }} Globe and Mail (Toronto). July 5, 2008. and the President of the European Commission (starting officially in 1981).Reuters: [https://web.archive.org/web/20081023185037/http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKB26280520080703?sp=true "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?"], July 3, 2008. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the first Group of Six (G6) summit in 1975.Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt3AzOHtXwgC&dq=G7+summit&pg=PA205 Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations, p. 205.]
Leaders at the summit
File:15th G7 Summit member 19890714 (cropped).jpg: (left to right) Jacques Delors, Ciriaco De Mita, Helmut Kohl, George H. W. Bush, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, and Sousuke Uno]]
The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The 15th G7 summit was the first summit for US President George H. W. Bush and was the last summit for Italian Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita. It was also the first and only summit for Japanese Prime Minister Sōsuke Uno.
=Participants=
These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum:Rieffel, Lex. [http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0327_global_governance_rieffel.aspx "Regional Voices in Global Governance: Looking to 2010 (Part IV),"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603074840/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0327_global_governance_rieffel.aspx |date=June 3, 2010 }} Brookings. March 27, 2009; [http://g8.gc.ca/about/member-states/ "core" members (Muskoka 2010 G-8, official site).] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602190742/http://g8.gc.ca/about/member-states/ |date=June 2, 2010 }}MOFA: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2000/past_summit/table_e/index.html Summit (15)]; European Union: [http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php "EU and the G8"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226165606/http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php |date=2007-02-26 }}
| class="wikitable" |
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background:Gainsboro" |Core G7 members Host state and leader are shown in bold text. |
| style="background:LightSteelBlue; text-align:center;"
! colspan=2 | Member ! Represented by ! Title |
| {{flagicon|CAN}}
| Canada |
|---|
| {{flagicon|FRA|1974}}
| France |
| {{flagicon|West Germany}} |
| {{flagicon|Italy}}
| Italy |
| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}}
| Japan |
| {{flagicon|UK}} |
| {{flagicon|US}} |
| rowspan="2" | {{flagicon|European Union}}
| rowspan="2" | European Community |
| François Mitterrand |
The heads of state and government of over a dozen developing countries were also represented at this summit gathering in Paris.Markham, James M. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/18/world/all-french-divided-over-how-to-do-the-fete.html?scp=25&sq= "All French Divided Over How to Do the Fete,"] New York Times. June 18, 1989; [http://www.economist.com/research/economics/alphabetic.cfm?letter= "G7, G8, G10, G21, G22, G26," The Economist.] retrieved July 5, 2010.
Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. Issues which were discussed at this summit included:
- International Economic Situation
- International Monetary Developments and Coordination
- Improving Economic Efficiency
- Trade Issues
- General Problems of Development
- The Situation in the Poorest Countries
- Strengthened Debt Strategy for the Heavily Indebted Countries
- Environment
- Drug Issues
- International Cooperation against AIDS
Gallery of participating leaders
=Core G7 participants=
File:Brian Mulroney (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|Canada}} Canada
Brian Mulroney,
Prime Minister
File:President François Mitterrand in 1983.jpg|{{flagicon|France|1974}} France
François Mitterrand,
President (Host)
File:Helmut Kohl (1996) cropped.jpg|{{flagicon|West Germany}} West Germany
Helmut Kohl,
Chancellor
File:Ciriaco De Mita (X).jpg|{{flagicon|Italy}} Italy
Ciriaco De Mita,
Prime Minister
File:Sosuke Uno 19890603.jpg|{{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Japan
Sōsuke Uno,
Prime Minister
File:Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister
File:George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg|{{flagicon|United States}} United States
George H. W. Bush,
President
File:Jacques Delors (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|EU}} European Union
Jacques Delors, Commission President
Accomplishments
While the agenda-setting or parameter-setting functions of the summit are important, the associated action or inaction which comes afterwards is important as well. These remain conceptually distinct aspects of the G7 summits.Kokotsis, Eleonore. (1999). {{Google books|L4Ge3R3Wf0wC|Keeping International Commitments: Compliance, Credibility, and the G7, 1988-1995, p. 32 n. 13.|page=32}}
A symbol of the mixed legacy of this summit is the Grande Arche itself. The total expenditure on the building reached 3.74 billion francs, all but 5.7 percent of which was covered by private investors, with the state remaining owner of the roof area; and yet, in 2001, parts of the facade were falling off.Knorr, Katherine. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/03/news/03iht-mitt_ed3_.html?scp=31&sq=grande%20arche&st=cse "Reassessing Mitterrand's Legacy : Of Monuments—and Monumental Errors,"] New York Times. May 3, 2001. A Frommer's review in 2010 characterizes it as a "politician's folly."[http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/france/paris/25315/la-grande-arche-de-la-defense/attraction-detail.html?scp=1&sq=grande%20arche&st=cse "La Grande Arche de La Défense,"] New York Times. accessed 5 July 2010.
In 1989, the summit leaders called for "adoption of sustainable forest management practices, with a view to preserving the scale of the world's forests," but there is little evidence of follow-up action.Sadruddin, Aga Khan. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/19/opinion/19iht-edkhan.t.html?scp=9&sq=G-7%20%20summit%201989&st=cse "It's Time to Save the Forests,"] New York Times. July 19, 2000.
See also
Notes
{{reflist|2}}
References
- Bayne, Nicholas and Robert D. Putnam. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BqkEAQAAIAAJ&q=G7+summit Hanging in There: The G7 and G8 Summit in Maturity and Renewal.] Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-1185-1}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/43186692 OCLC 43186692]
- Hajnal, Peter I. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bi5JO7FFk7UC&q=G7+summit+1989 The G8 system and the G20 : Evolution, Role and Documentation.] Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-4550-4}}; {{OCLC|277231920}}
- Kokotsis, Eleonore. (1999). [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40460131 Keeping International Commitments: Compliance, Credibility, and the G7, 1988-1995.] New York: Garland Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-8153-3332-6}}; {{OCLC|40460131}}
- Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt3AzOHtXwgC Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations.] London: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-16486-3}}; {{ISBN|978-0-203-45085-7}}; {{OCLC|39013643}}
External links
- No official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 -- see the 21st G7 summit.
- University of Toronto: G8 Research Group, [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca G8 Information Centre]
- [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/1989paris/index.html G7 1989, delegations & documents]
{{G8 summits}}
{{Presidency of George H. W. Bush}}