Britain, the G8 and the commonwealth
Lessons of the Birmingham summit
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10472887 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicholas Bayne (London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 348 |
| Pages | 445-457 |
| Publication date | 1998-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Round Table (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0035-8533 • E-ISSN: 1465-4008 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00358539808454440 |
| OpenAlex | W2092101748 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 6 |
This article looks at examples of links and convergence between the Birmingham summit of May 1998 and the Edinburgh CHOGM of October 1997—both chaired and organized by Britain—and between the G8 and the Commonwealth. Birmingham was the first G7 or G8 summit where heads of government met on their own. It was largely modelled on Commonwealth practice. The globalization of the world economy preoccupied Birmingham as well as Edinburgh. The rich G7 countries did not over‐praise globalization, but recognized the need to counter its dangers, as CHOGM had done. As in the past, British and Commonwealth ideas on debt relief for the poorest countries strongly influenced the G8 treatment of this issue. The summit did not adopt the whole of the Mauritius Mandate, still less the Jubilee 2000 proposals advocated by a mass demonstration of NGOs; but it made a step forward and left open the prospect of going further. The initial G8 response to India's nuclear tests was cautious, but they avoided a split over sanctions. The leaders have since deployed the G8 apparatus, which has grown up over the years, to keep pressure on India and Pakistan to adhere to the key nuclear treaties. On other issues too the G8 overlapped with Commonwealth interests. The Commonwealth should give more thought to its potential influence in international economic issues, before the 1999 CHOGM
Commonwealth · Development economics · Economics · Geography · Globalization · Government (linguistics · Mandate · Political economy · Political science · Praise · Sanctions · Sociology · Summit · Law · Public Administration · State Capitalism and Financial Governance
| Citations per year | 0.04 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2001 - 2001 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |