The Hindu Business Line : Artfully choreographing the G-8

Around this time of the year, normally, this German Baltic coast begins to brim with summer tourism. But the atmosphere this week is unusual. Leaving aside the world cup football — one of the largest ever domestic military deployments in post-war Germany, is evident this week.

At 7 a.m. last Wednesday, police officially closed off public access to the seaside resort where the G-8 meeting of leaders from eight of the world's most economically powerful countries is to take place between June 6 and 8.

Each year, a different member-country assumes the G-8 Presidency in January, and hosts a series of high-level meetings for member-representatives leading up to the annual summit, which is attended by heads of State.

This year Germany is hosting the 33rd summit at Heiligendamm, the country's oldest beach resort, which is in the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the Baltic Sea.

Heavily Criticised

The early lockdown is part of an intricate security strategy being pursued by the Germans to ensure that protests against the G-8 summit — to be attended by Britain, Germany, Italy, the US, Russia, France, Japan, and Canada — don't get out of hand as they have in the past.

Authorities have built a 12-km long, 2.5-metre tall, razor-wire fence around the resort at a cost of some 12.5 million ($17 million) and only residents and those on official business are allowed inside. The protective fence will transform the fenced in enclosure around Heiligendamm into the equivalent of a maximum-security prison.

Additionally, the coast in front of the resort is patrolled by warships and all other boats are banned from the area. German officials have been heavily criticised for their security strategy ahead of the summit meeting.

Not only have demonstrations been banned near the site of the meeting, but the police have been making headlines recently for a number of seemingly invasive tactics. Last month, it was revealed that the police were collecting odour samples from anti-globalisation activists so that dogs could identify them more easily at demonstrations.

Violent Protesters

The eight leaders, including the US President, Mr George W. Bush, and the new French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, — escorted by a convoy of 2,000 members of various Government delegations — will be tucked away on this beautiful stretch of shoreline behind razorwire-topped fence.

Those inside will be observed by 5,000 journalists, protected by 18,000 police and encircled by up to 1,00,000 fuming protesters. German organisers, by the end of this week, will have spent almost 100 million and two years organising the meeting.

Germany has temporarily suspended the Schengen Agreement — which allows passport-free travel among most European nations — and has set up border checks.

Police could hold potentially violent protesters in preventive custody. New mass-detention centres have been built. On the agenda for this year's summit are topics like climate change, copyright protection, aid for Africa and greater transparency for international financial markets.

Climate Change

For months, the German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, has been demanding the need to hammer out an agreement to combat climate change that all members of the G-8 could agree with.

For just as long, the US has been resisting any agreement that involves a commitment to concrete emissions-reduction goals.

In presenting his own pitch to deal with greenhouse gas emissions just days before this week's G-8 summit, Mr Bush is trying to look like a leader on climate change in the hope of outsmarting Europe and his detractors. But his plan is vague and his ideas stale — all sounding like a scoundrel preaching creed.

For his domestic spectators with little comprehension of German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel's climate proposals and the bickering among the G-8 states about them, it all sounds as if Mr Bush has suddenly mutated into a gallant environmental victor, out to save the planet from global warming.

Ms Merkel wants a pledge from the world's richest nations to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius this century and to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

A new US proposal attempts to skirt the issue by proposing that the world's leading industrial nations come to a framework agreement on CO{-2} reductions by 2008. As I write this, negotiators are meeting again over the weekend in an unknown location for a non-scheduled get-together to discuss the remaining points of conflict.

Yet another dramatic announcement last week was of the direct US aid to Africa. Since entering the White House, Mr Bush has increased direct aid to Africa from $1.1 billion in 2000 to $4.2 billion in 2006.

Political Agendas

The G-8 originated in 1973, when the oil crisis and subsequent economic recession prompted the US to host informal meetings for world leaders to discuss relevant issues. In 1975, France invited the US, the UK, West Germany, Italy and Japan to a summit, called the Group of Six, where the countries agreed on an annual meeting and a rotating presidency. Canada joined the next year, forming the G-7.

In 1997, Russia joined the group — a decision which is still contested by some — forming what is currently known as the G-8.

Together, the eight countries produce more than half of the world's economic production, and represent a powerhouse of political influence. Summit topics have evolved from purely economic concerns to include political agendas such as poverty, terrorism, and climate change.

Nevertheless, the US remains one of the most penny-pinching of all wealthy countries when the aid is considered as a percentage of gross national product (GNP).

While Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark all donate more than the 0.7 per cent of GNP, which rich countries pledged to give in a 1970 United Nations resolution, the US donates a paltry 0.17 per cent.

Germany's aid increase announced last week will up its percentage from 0.36 per cent to 0.51 per cent.

Blue Sherpa

The first time I met Dr Bernd Pfaffenbach, one of the most optimistic, vibrant career diplomats was 12 years ago, in Bonn, when he was International Policy Advisor to former German Chancellor Mr Helmut Kohl. Like Joe Cocker (the pop singer), he always had a big smile on his face. Last I met him again, was in January this year, at Davos-Switzerland, in his new position as the Chancellor Ms Angela Merkel's chief G-8 negotiator. He still had that divine beam on his face and sounded optimistic and upbeat about everything. Last week however, Ms Merkel's Sherpa, in an interview to the German media, for the first time expressed gloom, pessimism and grave doubts of G-8 success. On climate change, it appears that Germany and the US are moving farther away, rather than closer to each other. Lets wait and see.

(The author is former Europe Director, CII, and lives in Cologne, Germany.Feedback may be sent to mohan.murti@t-online.de)

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