ABSTRACT

The Group of Eight (G8) is not an institution. Institutions have clear organizational centres, the most important characteristics of which in practice, are often their cafeterias and pension plans. The role of a group such as the Group of Seven (G7)/G8 should be to raise the consciousness of the international community about new issues. The G7/G8 is certainly a very useful bonding process for the leaders of some of the major players in the international community. Elevating the G7/G8 process into an institution, despite the fact that it lacks the essential features of one, contradicts the original purpose for its creation and raises the danger of snuffing it out. In considering the G7/G8 itself, it is quite clear that China is a major player, not only in the regional context of the 1997-1998 Asian crisis, but also in the world economy as a whole.