ABSTRACT

In the traditional field of trade, Sylvia Ostry and Heidi Ullrich both argue that the G7/8 summit has made a real contribution, although inconsistent and episodic. Ostry sees a general decline from the high, if procedural, contribution of the G7 summit in the 1970s. Against the general backdrop of a well-performing G8, there is a widespread consensus that George Bush’s 2004 Sea Island Summit was a substantial success, for its American host, for its G8 partners, and for the global community as a whole. Kirton judges Sea Island to have been a summit of substantial achievement. Kirton’s favourable assessment is largely shared by Bayne, who concludes that the G8’s collective management gained some ground at Sea Island in 2004. Kirton’s analysis in this book shows how America adjusted to its partners at Sea Island to give their priorities on Africa and elsewhere an equally central place. Indeed, Sea Island added to the expansion to a substantial degree.