ABSTRACT
Birmingham 1998 was a highly innovative summit in organisation and procedure. The G7 finance ministers did the groundwork for the summit on the world economy, the new financial architecture and financial crime. The summit had to deal with two unexpected crises in Asia - India and Indonesia - but still managed to dispose of all the foreign policy issues before it during the first G8 dinner on 15 May. The Indian nuclear tests shortly before the summit had taken all G8 countries by surprise and their reactions diverged. Detailed preparations before Birmingham on the theme of 'employability and inclusion' involved the preparation of employment plans by each country. The G8 leaders had their longest discussion at Birmingham on international crime, beginning with a briefing from the head of the UK National Crime Squad, supported by videos. The new 'heads-only format' worked well and was highly welcomed by the participating heads.
