The G8: Ins and outs of a small but powerful group

The G8 is commonly referred to as a group of the world's "most industrialized" economies, with a membership thatincludes Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

You'll notice that the burgeoning economies of China and India are left out of this cozy group, as is any country from Africa or South Americaone of the many reasons why the bigger G20 has eclipsed the G8 in importance and relevance in the last few years.

In fact, theG20 has now officially becomethe main international forumwhereglobal economic issues are addressed.

But the G8remains a keyforum for many other political and social issues, including global security, climate change, international development, health, crime and arms control.

Senior ministers and officials of G8 countries meet several times a year. Last year,Canada (as host of the 2010summit) held a series of pre-G8 gatherings including a meeting offoreign ministers in Marchin Gatineau, Que., an Aprilmeeting of G8 development ministers and senior officialsin Halifax, and a pre-summit gathering of finance ministers and central bank governorsin Iqaluit in February.

The G8 leaders themselves gather once a year. The 2011 editionof the summit is taking place in Deauville, France,on May26 and 27.

5 summits in Canada

The 2010 summit inHuntsville, Ont.,was the fifthhosted by Canada, after Ottawa-Montebello in 1981, Toronto in 1988, Halifax in 1995 and Kananaskis, Alta., in2002.

The responsibility of hosting the G8 summit rotates annually in the following order: France, the United States, the U.K., Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy,and Canada. The 2011 summitin France marks thesixth timethat country hasplayed host.

The firstsummit (involving six nations) took place in France in 1975 at the invitation of then French President Valry Giscard D'Estaing.

Back then, the agenda's focus was on one issue how to deal withthe oil crisis that was playing havoc with the world's biggest economies. Canada joined this exclusive club the following year at thesummit in Puerto Rico.

The year after that in 1977 the European Community (nowcalled the European Union) was invited to sit inas an observer. The EU now enjoys the privileges of G8 membership, but cannot host or chair a summit.

In 1998, Russiajoined the G7, making it the G8.

The issues

Over the decades, the G6, G7 and G8 have tackled a broad range ofsocial, economic and political issues. Past summit agendashave included attemptsto increase aid to Africa, establishinga global fund to fight HIV/AIDS, debt relief for poor countries and curbing the spread of infectious diseases.

In Deauville, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama will reportedly discuss the next stage of the North American perimeter security agreement.

Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa are also expectedto feature prominently in the group discussions at the summit. The deteriorating security situation in Syria and the NATO-led military mission in Libya will also spark debate.

The plight of G8 member Japan will also be discussed.

As with the G20, there are no formal votes taken at G8 summits.Summits end with the release of a communiqu, summarizing broad general areas of agreement and pointing to future goals the G8 leaders want to pursue.

The future

Whether it's considered a vitalforum to exchange ideas or little more than a costly photo op (or a bit of both), the G8 process now attracts morequestions about its relevance.

How can a group that represents less than half the world's economy and less than a quarter of its population adequately speak about something like global warming? That's one reason why host leaders routinely invite other non-member nations to join them.