The Summit
The formula is "G-7 plus". In announcing the summit, US President George Bush said that the summit would bring together members of the G20 industrial nations. The G-20 was set up to respond to the financial turmoil of 1997-99 through the development of policies that "promote international financial stability". The G-20 comprises countries considered to be systemically important, but omits over 170 governments (192 governments are members of the United Nations).
The first meeting of the G-20 leaders on financial markets and the world economy was held in Washington, D.C. on November 14–15, 2008, at the National Building Museum. The participants were: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the People's Republic of China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union (represented by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the European Council, as well as by José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission), the Netherlands (allowed extraordinary presence), Spain (allowed extraordinary presence), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Forum. Although Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende arrived at Andrews Air Force Base on the evening of November 14, he immediately returned to the Netherlands when notified of the death of his father; the Netherlands was instead represented by State Secretary Jan Kees de Jager.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was not initially invited, but was "so desperate to secure an invitation" to the summit, that he traveled "to Asia to seek the help of President Hu Jintao of China." Zapatero eventually extracted an invitation through "intense lobbying" of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who happened to hold two invitations (the second French invitation was due to the fact that France held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during this period).
Read more about this topic: 2008 G-20 Washington Summit
Famous quotes containing the word summit:
“What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o’er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrible form
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason,
And draw you into madness?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The light that shined upon the summit now seems almost to shine at our feet.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)