As Mark Twain would have put it, the numerous reports of the G8’s death have been an exaggeration. There are no signs that the G8 will either merge into the G20 or enlarge to become formally a G13 that would include the BRICS countries and Mexico. The Deauville Summit hosted by France in May 2011, in the midst of the Arab Spring, reaffirmed the role and identity of the G8 as a unique site of geopolitical discussion inherited from the Cold War years. The Camp David Summit in May 2012 is bound to consolidate that move by making the Deauville Partnership a priority of the US-defined agenda’s meeting. This lecture is an invitation to reflect on the past, present and possible future of the G8 as an illustration of how the old Western powers are adjusting to a world where they are no longer predominant. Jack Snyder, the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations in the political science department and the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, will act as the discussant.
Karoline Postel-Vinay is Director of research at the Center for International Research and Studies (CERI) of Sciences Po. She specializes in International Relations and East Asian politics and has extensively written on both subjects. She has conducted a policy research on the reform of global governance for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in preparation of France’s G8 and G20 double presidency in 2010-2011. Her latest book is Le G20, laboratoire d’un monde émergent (The G20, a laboratory for an emerging world) published by Presses de Sciences Po in October 2011 (English translation forthcoming).
The Saltzman Institute is co-sponsoring this event with the Alliance Program.