Fasano, Italy – This year’s G7 summit presented the characteristics of a fragile club, but one that can still put up a good fight when it comes to protecting Western interests.
On Saturday, the leaders of what were once the world’s richest countries concluded the three-day G7 summit at Borgo Egnazia, a luxury resort nestled in the hills of Italy’s southern region of Puglia. But the group’s authority in global politics has been overshadowed by problems at home for most of its members.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s party came under so much criticism in last week’s European Union parliamentary elections that it called early elections. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholtz’s Social Democratic Party also suffered in the EU elections, to the point where critics called on it to follow Macron’s example. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is already heading to the polls in early July for an election that most predict will see the end of his government in a landslide victory for the opposition Labor party, while the Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau’s approval rating has plummeted to a dismal 38 percent. And in Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s party has been mired in a political crisis since last year, with some labeling the leader Japan’s most unpopular prime minister since 1947.
Above all, the specter of the US presidential elections in November hangs over this G7 summit, with the prospect of a return of Donald Trump, a former president who is openly skeptical of Washington’s multilateral agreements.
However, despite the internal challenges faced by the G7 leaders, the group still managed to muster a strong message of unity when it came to confronting threats they see as undermining Western stability. Most significant was the announcement on Thursday that it will use frozen Russian assets to make a $50 billion loan to Ukraine to support its efforts to continue the war with Russia.
“The G7 projected an image of weakness and failed political authority,” said Ettore Greco, deputy director of the Affari Internazionali Institute. “But they performed very well on important dossiers such as Ukraine, Gaza and China, which signals a clear convergence between them and sends a message of unity.”
Target number one was Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition to the $50 billion loan to Ukraine, the day before the start of the G7 summit, the US announced a robust new round of sanctions against Russian entities and individuals. On the sidelines of the event, US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a historic 10-year security pact, while a similar agreement was signed between Ukraine and Japan.
The thorny question of how to face growing global economic competition from China has also drawn European allies closer to the US, which has traditionally taken a more confrontational line towards Beijing than they have. In an unprecedented move this week, the European Union hit China with tariffs of up to nearly 50% on Chinese electric vehicles, marking a major shift in its trade policy. The US did the same in May.
Demonstrating their unity on this issue, the G7 leaders expressed their concerns about “China’s persistent industrial orientation and pervasive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and damaging overcapacity in a growing range of sectors , undermining our workers, industries, and economic resilience and security” in a final statement issued by all G7 governments at the end of the summit.
One issue on which the G7 appears less united is abortion. Absent from this year’s final statement is the word “abortion” – a likely victory for Meloni’s far-right party that opposes him. In contrast, the final declaration of last year’s summit in Japan specifically called for “access to safe and legal abortion.” This year, the final declaration only mentions “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.”
Ditching the “elitist” veneer
And while the club has managed to unite around shared concerns, it would be less obvious if it had managed to shed its elitist image and become more inclusive towards other countries – particularly those in the Global South – one of its main stated goals. this year’s summit.
To host the summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni invited a large number of guests, including heads of state from India, Turkey, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates. Even Pope Francis showed up – a first for a pontiff. In part, these invitations reflect Meloni’s political ambitions in Africa and the Mediterranean, but they were also designed to broaden the reach of the club, often accused of being too Western and exclusive.
In Meloni’s mind, as well as those of the other G7 members, is the knowledge that the group cannot solve the world’s problems or confront threats from China and Russia just by talking to each other.
The question remains, however; how attractive is the G7 these days to outsiders? Questions about the group’s legitimacy are not new. The G7 represented 70 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) – a number that has dwindled to just 40 today – while accounting for a tenth of the world’s population. In a sign that global power dynamics are changing dramatically, other global groups are growing. The BRICS countries – which include India, Russia and China – doubled the number of members, from five to 10, in January this year.
Furthermore, protectionist policies and sanctions – two key elements that signified unity among G7 members at this summit – are a primary source of pain for others.
“One of the reasons many countries are watching rather than acting is because many of these Western nations are taking actions that harm their economies,” said Fredrik Erixon, economist and director of the European Center for International Political Economy. “None of these Western leaders have the ability to say ‘We want to open our economy with them’ and that makes it difficult for other countries to support Western geopolitical goals.”
The war in Gaza has deepened the division. Western countries have been accused of double standards in their unwavering support for Ukraine, compared to their much softer stance on Israel’s conduct in the besieged strip where more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in eight months. .
In its final statement, the G7 supported a ceasefire plan outlined by Biden, once again underlining the group’s support for a two-state solution, including the recognition of a Palestinian state “at the appropriate time”.
The statement states that Israel “must fulfill its obligations under international law” and “refrain from” launching an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. However, it stopped short of condemning Israel for its conduct during this war, which is currently being investigated by the International Court of Justice – the highest court in the world – in a case of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel. There were reports that Canada and France pushed for stronger language on Israel’s actions in Gaza, but the US and Germany opposed it.
“For many countries around the world, the failure of the G7 to adopt a stronger stance on the war in Gaza represents the most glaring example of Western duplicity,” said Rafael Loss, an EU security expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. .
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
