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characteristics of the big seven. Activities of the "big seven". United States of America and Germany

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3. Russia in the big seven

5. Benefits of Russian support for the G7

Conclusion

1. "Seven" of the leading countries of the world in the world economy

Countries with a developed economy are those states that are characterized by the presence of market relations in the economy, a high level of rights and civil liberties in public and political life. All countries with developed economies belong to the capitalist model of development, although the nature of the development of capitalist relations here has serious differences. The level of GDP per capita in almost all developed countries is not less than 15 thousand dollars a year, the level of social protection guaranteed by the state (pensions, unemployment benefits, compulsory medical insurance), life expectancy, the quality of education and medical care, the level of cultural development. Developed countries have passed the agrarian and industrial stage of development with the predominant importance and contribution to the creation of the GDP of agriculture and industry. Now these countries are at the stage of post-industrialism, which is characterized by the leading role in the national economy of the sphere of non-material production, which creates from 60% to 80% of GDP, the efficient production of goods and services, high consumer demand, constant progress in science and technology, strengthening the social policy of the state .

The group of countries with developed economies, the IMF refers primarily to the leading capitalist countries, called the Big Seven (G7), which includes the United States, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Canada. These states occupy a dominant position in the world economy, primarily because of their powerful economic, scientific, technical and military potential, large population, high level of aggregate and specific GDP.

Further, the group of developed countries includes relatively small in comparison with the potential of the G7, but economically and scientifically highly developed countries of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Their inclusion in the group of developed countries was a merit for the rapid progress in economic development in the post-war period. This is a truly unique example in world history, when absolutely nothing of themselves back in the 1950s. countries seized world economic superiority in a number of positions and turned into important world industrial, scientific, technical and financial centers. The level of GDP per capita, the quality of life in the "dragon" countries and in Israel have come close to the indicators of the leading developed countries and in some cases (Hong Kong, Singapore) even surpass most of the G7 states. Nevertheless, in the subgroup under consideration there are certain problems with the development of a free market in its Western sense, there is its own philosophy of the formation of capitalist relations.

Developed countries are the main group of countries in the world economy. In the late 90s. they accounted for 55% of world GDP, 71% of world trade and most of the international capital movement. The G7 countries account for more than 44% of world GDP, including the USA - 21%, Japan - 7%, Germany - 5%. Most developed countries are members of integration associations, of which the most powerful are the European Union - the EU (20% of world GDP) and the North American Free Trade Agreement - NAFTA (24%).

The Big Seven are regular high-level meetings of the leaders of the seven most economically developed states (USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada) held to develop common strategic political and economic decisions. Since 1994, in the economic meetings at the highest level of the countries "B.S." Russia is involved, turning "B.S." to the Big Eight.

The G8 (G8) is an international club that unites the governments of the world's leading democracies. It is sometimes associated with the "board of directors" of the leading democratic economies. Many politicians define it as "one of the key informal mechanisms for coordinating the financial, economic and political course" of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada, Russia and the European Union. The G8's role in world politics is determined by the economic and military potential of its member powers.

The G8 does not have its own charter, headquarters and secretariat. Unlike the informal but broader World Economic Forum, it does not have a public relations department or even a website. Nevertheless, the G8 is one of the most important international regulators in the modern world and is on a par with such international organizations as the IMF, WTO, OECD.

2. The main problems solved by the big seven

The "Big Seven" was formed in the mid-70s, consisting of the leaders of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada, which is taking steps to coordinate the policies of the leading Western countries. The form of its activity has become annual meetings, the main purpose of which is to develop recommendations on the most acute economic problems of the world economy.

The political acuteness of economic problems predetermined the main issues of the meetings:

* ways to improve the economy;

* energy problems;

* international trade;

* Ways to stabilize the monetary system;

* relations between industrialized and developing countries;

* Problems of countries with economies in transition.

The complication of problems in the monetary and financial area necessitated the formation of an additional body. In 1985, a separate group of finance ministers and central bankers was established in Venice. They were added to the duties of annually analyzing and comparing the goals of economic policy and forecasts for the economic development of each country, paying special attention to their mutual compatibility.

The annual meetings of the heads of the seven leading Western countries constitute an important element of the coordination mechanism in the world economy. They reached agreements on the stabilization of exchange rates (the La Plaza agreement in 1985 and the Louvre agreement in 1987), developed a debt strategy for the poorest and middle-income countries (Toronto, 1988, Paris, 1989 ., Cologne, 1999), ways to support reforms in Eastern European countries are outlined (Paris, 1990), etc.

3. Russia in the big seven

The G8 owes its appearance to a series of major international events that led to crises in the world economy in the early 1970s.

1) The collapse of the Bretton Woods financial system and unsuccessful attempts by the IMF and IBRD to reform the world monetary system;

2) the first enlargement of the EU in 1972 and its consequences for the economy of the West;

3) the first international oil crisis in October 1973, which led to serious disagreements between Western countries regarding a common position with the OPEC countries;

4) the economic recession that began in 1974 as a consequence of the oil crisis in the OEECD countries, accompanied by inflation and rising unemployment.

Under these conditions, a need arose for a new mechanism for coordinating the interests of the leading Western countries. Since 1973, the finance ministers of the United States, Germany, Great Britain and France, and later of Japan, began to meet periodically in an informal setting to discuss problems of the international financial system. In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (both former finance ministers) invited the heads of other leading Western states to gather in a narrow informal circle for face-to-face communication. The first summit was held in 1975 in Rambouillet with the participation of the United States, Germany , Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.In 1976, Canada joined the club, and since 1977 - the European Union as a spokesman for the interests of all its member countries.

There are several approaches to periodization of the G8 history.

According to the topics of meetings and activities, there are 4 stages in the development of the G7/G8:

1. 1975-1980 - very ambitious plans for the development of the economic policy of the member countries;

2. 1981-1988 - increased attention to non-economic issues of foreign policy;

3. 1989-1994 - the first steps after the Cold War: the restructuring of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the USSR (Russia), in addition to the traditional problems of developing trade and debt. New topics such as the environment, drugs, money laundering are emerging;

4. After the summit in Halifax (1995) - the current stage of development. Formation of the "Big Eight" (inclusion of the Russian Federation). Reforming international institutions ("new world order").

The question of whether the G8 was a full-fledged G8 when the G7 plus one became the G8 is the question of what role Russia has played and is playing in this organization to this day is a matter of great controversy. Its membership in the "Big Eight" was initially perceived with great reservations and criticism both abroad and in Russia itself. However, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. in Russia and abroad, a more serious interest in this topic has appeared, a more respectful and informed attitude on the part of public opinion and the media.

Since 1991, Russia has been invited to participate in the work of the G7. Since 1994, this has been happening in the "7+1" format. In April 1996, a special G-7 summit on nuclear security was held in Moscow with the full participation of Russia. And in the spring of 1998, a ministerial meeting of the "Seven" on the problems of world energy was held in Moscow. In 1998 in Birmingham (England), the G7 officially became the G8, giving Russia the formal right to full participation in this club of great powers. In the autumn of 1999, at the initiative of Russia, a G8 ministerial conference was held in Moscow to combat transnational organized crime.

In 2002, at a summit in Kananaskis (Canada), the G8 leaders stated that "Russia has demonstrated its potential as a full-fledged and important participant in solving global problems." In general, in the 1990s, the participation of the Russian Federation was reduced to the search for new loans, the restructuring of external debt, the fight against discrimination against Russian goods, the recognition of Russia as a country with a market economy, the desire to join the Paris Club of creditors, the WTO and the OECD, as well as nuclear safety issues. By the beginning of the 21st century the country recovered from the 1998 crisis and the role of the Russian Federation changed. At the summit in Okinawa (Japan, 2000), Russia no longer raised the issue of loans and debt restructuring. In 2001, at a meeting in Genoa, the Russian Federation for the first time acted as a donor for some G8 programs. In the spring of 2003 alone, the Russian Federation allocated $10 million to the trust fund of the Cologne Initiative of the Paris Club of Creditors and provided $11 million to the World Food Programme. Prior to this, the Russian side decided to allocate $20 million to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In terms of participation in the program of writing off the debts of the world's poorest countries, Russia is the leader of the G8 in terms of such indicators as the share of reduced debts in GDP and their ratio to per capita income. Russia is scheduled to chair the G8 summit in 2006.

Nevertheless, according to international experts, although Russia's geopolitical significance is beyond doubt, its economic power still does not match the level of other G8 countries, and therefore Russian representatives only partially participate in meetings of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the G8 members. eight." Experts agree that a country's "100%" participation in the work of the G8 is not feasible until it becomes a member of two other key international organizations - the WTO and the OECD.

"Russia has never been a full member of the G7," says Yevgeny Yasin. "In the 1990s, she didn't have the money for this, and the 'financial Big Seven' mainly solves money issues," the expert explains. "Then the money appeared, but Russia changed its mind about living in a democracy." Therefore, according to him, so far Russia has been invited to participate only in meetings of G8 heads of state, but not in financial meetings. "So the claims of our Foreign Ministry are groundless," the economist is sure. According to Dmitry Orlov, Director General of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications, it is not worth dramatizing the situation. "I think that Russia is just a full member of the G8, it's just that these meetings themselves are political clubs, and politicians have different phases of relationships," he says. "By and large, it is beneficial for the G7 to keep Russia inside this club, and not outside, so as not to lose the mechanisms of influence on it," the expert believes.

4. Russia's interest in participating in the G7

Russia's participation in the G8 promises benefits both for Russia itself and for the organization as a whole. It is beneficial to Russia - and to all those Americans who want to see Russia friendly and Europeanized - as the best way for today to maintain and strengthen Russia's ties with the West. And this is beneficial for the G8 as an organization, since it increases its own significance.

In this situation, there are opportunities that the West can use. Unfortunately, the West is acting against its own interests, focusing instead on thoughts of excluding Russia from the G8.

The G8 is the right forum for Russia. It is the largest Western institution with the widest geographical coverage: it is both transatlantic and transpacific. With the inclusion of Russia in the G8, it has now become pan-Northern. "North" is a group of countries that have many important things in common. When the North is united, the world becomes quite united; when it is disconnected, the world plunges into conflict, as it did throughout the 20th century. Russia's membership has not in the least diminished the identity of this organization, neither in terms of its purposefulness, nor in geographical terms; on the contrary, it strengthened this identity by filling the gap that existed in it.

The G8 is also the most western institution with the most broad interests. It is ready to consider any aspect of mutual cooperation and global governance - in fact, everything that is of mutual interest to Russia and Western countries. It is better suited to the contours of Russia's cooperation with the West than most other Western institutions.

Further, the G8 is an institution to which Russia cannot have any claims that are a relic of the Cold War. The G8, in turn, has nothing against Russia, what would be left of the Cold War. It owes this virtue to one of its vices: it does not have a permanent apparatus that could accumulate such causes for nervousness or milieu culture. As an institution it has a minimal structure; it is quite possible that she could have more baggage, but in the meantime she adapts easily. Its only area of semi-formalized cooperation - the control of macroeconomics and the coordination of central bank activity regarding foreign exchange intervention - is not an area in which Russia participates, and this is due to honest technical reasons (and not political reasons, which for diplomatic purposes masquerade as innocuous technical reasons, like often with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO for short). However, the main part of the G8 - the summit of heads of state - is absolutely flexible. The summit of heads of state has great potential for reforming the structure that supports it, but for decades this potential has remained almost completely unrealized.

Russia first started talking about joining the G8 (then still the G7) during the Gorbachev era. Representatives of the West, in turn, began to talk about the admission of Russia into this organization in the last years of the Gorbachev era. In the following decade, Russia gradually became involved in this organization, first as an observer or guest, then as a member of the G7 plus One, and then as a "political" G8. At every stage of its involvement, Russia's involvement has proven to be beneficial to both sides. Today the G8 is the only transatlantic institution in which Russia is a full member; in all other organizations, Russia has not yet completed the accession process or is still left out.

Indeed, the G8 is the only Western institution that Russia not only supports but would like to see stronger. This is partly because she is a member of this organization; partly because there is a natural gravitation that allows it to identify with this organization after it has become a member (it must be assumed that Russia would not like the strengthening of some other groups, for example, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in which it participates). In this case, this can perhaps be seen as an indicator of the kind of support that can be counted on when Russia joins other Western institutions. Sergey Karaganov has long been saying that in the case of NATO, Russia will continue to look at this organization with fear while it is outside of it, but will support NATO as soon as it itself joins it. This is consistent with the elementary logic of realism and Russia's own oft-repeated "dialectical" formulations that it is not against NATO, not against NATO's use of military force, and not against NATO expansion per se, but against the use of military force and NATO expansion into which Russia is not allowed or in which she is not given a strong enough voice in decision-making. However, this is inconsistent with NATO assessments of Russia's approaches, which are generally classified in a simple manner as pro-NATO or anti-NATO without any reference to defining conditions. This oversimplified method of assessment in the West creates a new barrier for Russia that is hard to overcome, what some would argue is a kind of vicious circle. In the case of the G-7, Russia has never been particularly "against", neither with the defining conditions, nor in general, and therefore it did not have such a barrier that it had to overcome. In any case, Russia today is a member of the G8, and Russia supports this organization.

5. Benefits of Russian support for the G8

The fact that Russia supports the pan-Western organization is not so important. This greatly enhances the global strength of this organization. This takes into account not only the addition of Russia's material resources, which are still significant, but also the addition of faith in the legitimacy of this organization in those countries of the world that are clients of Russia, especially those who are in one way or another its "moral clients". - which sometimes increases this category, since Moscow during the years of the Cold War acquired an extensive moral clientele, which includes a number of governments and secular radical forces within almost any country in the world.

The strengthening of the pan-Western organization thanks to Russia, in turn, entails a more concrete strengthening of the power and legitimacy of the Western global leadership. This is a factor that has a certain importance for America and for the US-Western aspirations to a leading role in the world in our time.

Further, Russia's support for the Western organization has the potential to give political acceleration to the development of the G8, for Russia is a country that in this period of transformation still has some innovative capabilities. The West is very interested in seeing its common institutions and arrangements become more effective, but this is something that it has never been able to achieve easily in the face of opposition from vested interests within each country and government. It is beneficial for the West that Russia act as a new force that will move this process forward.

On the contrary, it would be disadvantageous for the West if Russia remains in the uncomfortable position of an outsider and acts as a nervous, fearful critic of Western unity. Russian objections have often slowed down the process of Western integration. As has already been said, Russia has always had a large moral clientele in the West, and in any case Western diplomats, although they were often too slow to decide how to bring Russia into their circle after 1989, generally considered unintelligent too much put pressure on Russia while keeping it out the door. During the Cold War, Russia sought to split the Western alliance, and so it became customary to accuse Russia of trying to "divide and deceive the West", which it is still often accused of in NATO circles, and which was believed by a significant part of the Western elite until 1990, considering this the real reason for the reforms initiated by Gorbachev. However, what Russia really wants today - at least in the case of the G8 - is not to divide and deceive, but to unite and strengthen the West even more.

We can say that Russia has great ambitions towards the G8 - such ambitions, which, one might suppose, the West should have, and which, unfortunately, it lacks. Russia sees the G8 as an increasingly important body of global leadership; some Russian analysts call it a kind of "nascent world government" that complements, but does not entirely replace, the UN Security Council, which suffers from the fact that its structure has remained unchanged since 1945. Russia's views on the most pressing issues of global governance - the war on terrorism and the fight against nuclear proliferation - are aligned with those of other G8 members, especially the United States. However, instead of relying on this support to improve the G8, today in the West they are talking about kicking Russia out of this organization. This is presented as a substantive lesson designed to teach Russia about democracy, although such a move would harm the West's own interests.

6. Attempts to suspend Russia's membership

Part of the problem is the West's misunderstanding of what the G8 is. Many of the supporters of Russia's exclusion focus on Russia rather than Atlantic institutions per se. This is such an abyss in which they are far from alone: in general, there is a public misunderstanding in the West of the concept of Atlantic institutions. A number of supporters of Russia's exclusion have stated: - that it "makes sense" to expel Russia from the G8 because it is a "club of democratic states." They do not ask what would be the practical use of excluding Russia; they just feel that doing so would be, in a certain sense, "correct" for their vision of the G8.

In fact, the G8 is not a club of democratic states, nor is it a school of democracy, nor is it a place to judge the purity of democracy in a given country. To find institutions of this kind, one must look to the Council of Europe and the emerging worldwide Community of Democracies. It would be worth discussing whether Russia is democratic enough to "belong" to these clubs. But the G8 has nothing to do with it.

The G8 is a practical institution for solving common problems. It is part of an expanding Atlantic cohort of institutions that includes NATO, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other institutions. Russia maintains ties with almost all of the above organizations, and has already joined some of them.

The G-7 was created in the 1970s to coordinate the economies of the Western powers after the collapse of the original monetary system that was established under the Bretton Woods Accords. Gradually, it took on the broader role of a common summit of the Western powers on international issues. In the mid-1980s, at the instigation of US Treasury Secretary James Baker, she became involved in economic issues. Gradually, the G7 expanded its political functions, increasing the agendas of the summits from time to time. After the admission of Russia into the organization, the now G8 once again expanded its political role, which for the sake of clarity should be called again: the coordination of foreign policy, but not mutual political education or education of democracy. The inclusion of Russia was a natural step, and one that proved beneficial to the group as a whole.

The original members of the G8 belonged to the largest powers - members of the OECD, which by the time the G7 was formed had already existed for about 10 years. Since Russia intends to speak to the OECD, and since the OECD has decided that it will accept Russia as soon as Russia meets the technical and economic conditions, the G8 summit, with its less formal and less technical role, is the logical place for Russia at this stage. .

Some, such as James Huntley, see the G8 with its summits as a place with more potential energy and visibility than other transatlantic institutions, and suggest moving forward based on this fact. For the sake of continuity of work, they propose to create a secretariat in the G8, instructing it to activate the entire complex of Western institutions by planning initiatives for them and jointly giving this institution a public face. In this way, the G8 could give the Atlantic institutions a collective identity and distinctness as a global community of nations. In fact, it would breathe new life into what we used to call the "Atlantic community." Whether such a vision is realized or not is not yet clear, but the prospects for evolution in this direction have certainly increased with the inclusion of Russia in the G8, which has already led to an increase in its political role.

Nothing in international life is perfect, and Russia doesn't quite fit into the old G7 either. It doesn't quite fit in economically, but even here its presence helps to complement the group's global hegemony by adding Russia's vast natural resources - oil, natural gas and other important minerals - to plug a big hole in an unreliable mineral supply chain that had hitherto chasing the Big Seven. Russia doesn't quite fit in politically either, but neither did Japan for decades, when it had a hegemonic regime that regularly won the support of a majority of voters, just like Putin's regime. However, Japan's membership was beneficial in terms of peacefully transforming Japan's quasi-consensual quasi-democracy system into a more Western-style pluralistic system. Russia is also not the only country in the history of this group that suffers from undeserved discredit: waves of attacks on Japan in the 1980s and early 1990s, replete with conspiracy theories that accused the Japanese elite of only pretending to building a Western market economy and democracy, but in reality preparing to return to global domination, threatened the unity of this group even more than the exaggerated attacks on Russia's political evolution today. There is every reason to stop exaggerating Russia's differences from the rest of the group and instead to focus on the opportunities inherent in the underlying normal fit that has existed and continues to exist between group members and Russia.

Conclusion

The value of the G8 lies in the fact that in the modern world the heads of state are so busy that they do not have the opportunity to go beyond communicating with a narrow circle of close associates and considering the most pressing, current problems. The G-8 summits free them from this routine and allow them to take a broader look at international problems from someone else's eyes, providing a real opportunity for establishing understanding and coordinating actions. According to Joe Clark, "they free multilateral negotiations from their inherent red tape and mistrust." According to the authoritative opinion of the research group of the Atlantic Council, the G8 summits are less and less striking the world with global initiatives and are increasingly turning into a forum for identifying new threats and problems with a view to their subsequent solution within the framework of other international organizations.

economics market international russian

Bibliography

1. Ira Strauss What is the G8 and why is Russia included in it? Expert, №3, 2003

2. Big "seven" - big problems. - Nezavisimaya Gazeta 05/16/2001

3. The Big Seven are optimistic about the prospects for the global economy. - Nezavisimaya Gazeta 2.03.2003

5. Protopopov A., Kozmenko V, Elmanova N. History of international relations and foreign policy of Russia (1648-2000). Moscow: Aspect Press, 2001.

6. Yakovlev A.G. "Bipolarity is the main parameter of the world community yesterday, today and tomorrow." IB No. 13. M.; IFES RAS, 1997

7. Hajnal P., Meikle S. The G7/G8 System. University of Toronto, 1999

8. Lukov V. B. Russia in the club of leaders. M., Scientific book, 2002

9. Lukov V.B. "Big Eight" in the modern and future world. - International life. 2002, No. 3

10. "Big Eight": the revival of leadership. Recommendations of the "shadow G8" for the Evian summit. - Russia in Global Politics. M., 2003, No. 2

11. Penttilya R. Political anatomy of the G8. International processes, v.1. M., 2003, No. 3

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1. Economic and geographical position of Germany and Great Britain.

Germany and the UK occupy a favorable EGP, although there are certain differences between them. Germany is located at the crossroads of transport routes, the most important of which have a latitudinal direction. Of particular importance for the country is direct access to the North Sea, on the coast of which there are several ports of world importance (Hamburg).

EGP of Germany and Great Britain similarities and differences

Great Britain is an island state. It is located at the crossroads of international sea routes. The EGP of the country has improved after the completion of the construction of the tunnel, which is laid in the narrowest part of the English Channel and connects about. Great Britain with the mainland.

Comparison of Germany and Great Britain

Germany - federation of historical German lands. After the unification of the two German countries into a single state in 1990, there are 16 of them. Each of the lands has its own constitution, its own parliaments and governments, but all legislative power in the state belongs to the bicameral parliament, and the executive power is exercised by the government headed by the federal chancellor. According to the state system, Germany is a federal republic.

Both countries are members of the EU and NATO.

2. Natural conditions and resources of Germany and Great Britain

The natural resources of both countries are limited and depleted because they have been exploited for a long time. Both countries have significant reserves of hard coal, good coal. In Great Britain, oil and natural gas are extracted from the shelf of the North Sea, and in Germany, in addition to stone, they develop deposits of brown coal. The countries are rich in potash and common salt reserves.

Deposits of iron ore are practically exhausted and are currently of little importance. There are minor deposits of lead-zinc, copper and tin ores in Great Britain.

3. The population of Germany and the UK

The population of Germany, unlike Great Britain, was largely influenced by the Second World War, during which 10 million people died. However, the country quickly regained its population thanks to the return of 11 million Germans from territories that, as a result of the change in Germany's borders in 1945, went to other countries. Now there is a return to Germany of Germans from Russia and Kazakhstan. The natural increase in both the UK and Germany is very low, for several years there has even been a decline in the population.

Germany is a one-national country, and in the UK, in addition to the British (80%), there are Scots, Welsh (Welsh), and Irish. These peoples have retained their customs, culture and religion. The UK is home to a significant number of immigrants from the former colonies.

The distribution of the population is uneven, most of all it is concentrated in the industrialized parts of the country. The average population density is almost the same - about 230 people / km2. At the same time, in the Ruhr (Germany), the population density reaches 2000 people / km2. In the UK, England is densely populated (350 people / sq. km).

Both countries stand out for their extremely high levels of urbanization. Approximately one third of the citizens live in large cities and agglomerations. Megacities have formed in both countries.

In the structure of employment of the population, approximately 60% in Germany and 70% in the UK work in the service sector, the share of workers in industry has decreased to 37.7% in Germany and 27% in the UK, and 4% and 2%, respectively, are employed in agriculture.

The most famous of the informal intergovernmental organizations is the "G-7" - a group of seven largest economies in the world: the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan. In fact, this is an elite club at the level of heads of state, which arose in the 70s. 20th century during the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system. Its main goal is to avoid a global imbalance in the world. In 1998, mainly for political reasons, Russia was admitted to the club. In July 2006, for the first time, the G-8 summit was held in Russia in St. Petersburg. Experts note that the main result of the summit can be called the final transformation of the organization from an elite club of developed countries that made consolidated decisions on major international issues into a debating club that forms the world agenda. But such an agenda is impossible without the participation of China and India. They were present in St. Petersburg as guests, but they have every reason to become full members of the club of world leaders.

In addition to intergovernmental organizations, the number of non-governmental voluntary public organizations (NGOs) is growing. Thus, about 15,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations gathered at the World Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Such associations as Greenpeace, Club of Rome, Third World Network are widely known. With all the variety of such organizations, their activities are usually aimed at protecting human rights, the environment, women's rights, solving the problems of developing countries and often have an anti-globalization orientation.

In this regard, the concept of a "global public policy network" arose - a joint initiative of NGOs, business circles, national governments, international organizations. Through these initiatives, participants develop public opinion, international norms and standards on specific controversial issues: for example, the effectiveness of building large dams. Globalization makes NGOs more and more influential and implies the creation of a transnational network of NGOs that can influence formal arrangements. Their main argument is the thesis that the established institutions of international governance suffer from a deep deficit of democracy. The activities of these organizations are not subject to the will of the population - there is no system of direct democratic elections, and information, public control and discussion are extremely limited. This means that the decisions made may be in the narrow commercial interests of certain groups of individuals or countries.

The G8 (Group of eight, G8) is an international club that unites the governments of the world's leading democracies. It is sometimes associated with the "board of directors" of the leading democratic economies. Domestic diplomat V. Lukov defines it as "one of the key informal mechanisms for coordinating the financial, economic and political course" of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada, Russia and the European Union. The role of the G8 in world politics is determined by the economic and military potential of its member states.

The G8 does not have its own charter, headquarters and secretariat. Unlike the informal but broader World Economic Forum, it does not have a public relations department or even a website. However, the G8 is one of the most important international actors in the world today. It is on a par with such "classical" international organizations as the IMF, WTO, OECD.

History of occurrence and stages of development. The G8 owes its appearance to a series of major international events that led to crises in the world economy in the early 1970s.