Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in subsequent chapters of this book. The book is divided in two parts, looking respectively at the rise and practices of regular summitry, and then at the policy challenges they faced. The first part focuses on how the emergence of summitry reshaped the practice of world politics. The direct, stronger involvement of heads of government in international relations occurred precisely at a time when intra-Western coordination became most fractious, and governments felt they were increasingly losing control of monetary and financial developments to market dynamics that they imperfectly understood. The second part explores the policy challenges facing the West and Europe and the paradoxes of the new face that summits provided to the West and Europe. The G7 and European Council indeed arose for the immediate purpose of facilitating coordination, particularly but not only on monetary affairs.