What Bloggers Are Saying About The G8 Summit
Much talk and too few results has been the most common G8 criticism in the blogosphere. Open Democracy describes last week’s G8 summit as the “latest act in a perpetual cycle where public declarations matter more than results.” Many bloggers have a cynical take, like Video Blogger NewTeeVee:
Again the world’s most developed countries have agreed to help the world, they just won’t say when. The fight against greenhouse gas emissions and AIDS in Africa are coming but no deadlines have been agreed upon. To honor this great meeting of heads of state we’ve assembled a vid picks series of G8 viral moments.
While many bloggers have criticized the G8 summit as an expensive photo-op, Kosmoblog (in German) argues that the importance of world leaders meeting in a relaxed atmosphere cannot be exaggerated, because good personal relationships are key to international cooperation.
On Aid for Africa:
FP Passport criticizes the G8 pledge to give $60 billion to fight AIDS as “little more than Enron-style accounting.” Since half of this amount was promised by President Bush, who often gets criticized for not supporting those in need, Blogger News Network reported that “American Empire of Evil diabolically contributes half of the malevolent aid to Africa again.”
U2 singer and activist Bono gets a lot of support, for instance in Americablog, for his criticism that the G8 summit had produced a “deliberately misleading” pledge to fight AIDS and other diseases.
Open Democracy recommends:
For the G8 to do more good for the world, it needs to review its broader development footprint: reducing the harmful effects of conditioned aid and distorted trade, while creating a more propitious global environment. Traditional aid targeting won’t cut it.
Quite a few bloggers have also criticized the G8 protesters: Transatlantic Forum (in German) characterizes most anti-globalization activists as left-leaning academics who don’t know that there is less poverty today than ever before, that most Africans welcome globalization because poor countries benefit from free trade as well, and that development aid contributes to poverty rather than wealth. Rogue Pundit comments on the “collateral damage from G8 protesters.”
Bloggers Poking Fun at World Leaders:
Treebeard31 presents a cartoon about “G8 hypocrisy.”
¡No Pasarán! shows a video of President Sarkozy’s press conference and speculates that “Putin drank him under the table.”
Like many other blogs Anglofritz points out that President Bush was spotted drinking a beer and quotes one commentator as saying: “The Germans can get anyone to drink beer.”
Observing Hermann speculates about a Polonium attack after President Bush mysteriously falls ill after a short meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Video Diary:
If you understand German, check out the videolog G8 Vlog.
Jörg Wolf is head of research for the Atlantic Community and maintains the personal blog Atlantic Review
Members of the Atlantic Community, what do you think about the G8 Summit? Note your personal impression and comments on the above mentioned blogs below.
Related Materials From the Atlantic Community:
- G8 Criticism: Scattered and Hollow
- Paul Martin, Joseph Stiglitz Question Relevance of G8 Summit
- Bush on Missile Defense, Energy and the War On Terror: ‘We have nothing to hide’
- DER SPIEGEL Assesses Merkel’s Unprecedented Commitment to the US
