lifestyle leader

Wait, they still have a G8, you ask? Yes indeed, and the Italians are hosting this year's leaders summit in L'Aquila. Some initial news & reaction:

- President Hu of China has returned home from the G8 earlier than expected in order to deal with the unrest in the Xinjiang region. This of courses raises the question of why he was there in the first place, since China is not a member of the G8. Nor, for that matter, are most of the other 39 (thirty-nine!) heads of state, government and international organizations that are attending what Quentin Peel is calling "a monstrous gathering of literally thousands of officials and security staff and spin-doctors, not to mention the media circus that follows them."

In my view, the G8 has merit in its capacity to bring the leaders together, away from their staffers (and finance ministers) to discuss shared priorities. It is possible, albeit rare, to see real progress out of these fireside chats - but the Italians appear to have placed the emphasis on style over substance.

- The G8 aid priorities appear to be.... Africa? no. South America? no. The G8? yes. I know the G8 has promised in the past to help the Highly-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs), but Italy only meets most of the HIPC criteria (country, highly-indebted), not all of them.

- No big surprise here, but the focus of the G8 will be likely be on the economic crisis and "exit strategies" at the expense of other priorities like the environment.

UPDATE: Simon Johnson provides 3 reasons why the G8 leaders summit is becoming anarchronistic. His points are well taken, and he rightly acknowledges that the sub-leader-level meetings still have a purpose