The 2017 G7 Summit is happening this Friday in Italy. The G7 summit is comprised of leaders from Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Britain, Canada, and the United States.
The meeting is a two-day event that is happening in Taormina, a resort town in Italy.
The members of the G7 will discuss a wide range of topics and issues which include energy, security, and global economy. This year, it seems there's no deviation from the norm.
Keep in mind that the G7 meeting will feature four leaders that haven't attended the meeting before. One of them is President Donald Trump. Experts are observing the G7 meeting in the hopes of spotting policy shifts regarding the global economy.
Trump is most likely going to face a lot of pressure with his climate-sceptic and protectionist stance. This puts him directly at odds with the other global leaders.
G7 is short for The Group of Seven. The group is considered to be an informal bloc composed of leaders from major countries which are deemed as "industrialized democracies."
Keep in mind that G7 carries no mandatory decisions whatsoever. It's just a meeting of world leaders, exchanging ideas and possible solutions to crucial issues. If a leader declares something at the end of the G7 meeting, it’s not considered binding.
The presidency of the G7 meeting is rotated among the leaders. It's also the acting president that sets the agenda and aids with the logistics.
As of the moment, the G7 members are no longer considered as world leading economies. The Group of 20, also known as G20, is a broader club which was set up in 1999. The broader club includes other major players including Turkey, South Africa, Australia, South Korea, Brazil, India, and China.
The First G7 meeting was held on 1975 in Germany. At the time, it was considered as G6 as it was comprised of 6 countries. Also, it was mainly a forum for non-Communist powers. Canada joined the forum a few months after, and the group was formalized and dubbed as G7.
Russia was invited to attend the 1997 G7 meeting as an observer. It was an attempt to convince Russia to adopt capitalist reforms. Russia joined the group the following year. However, Russia was kicked out of the group in 2014 because of the annexation of Crimea.
There are four new faces to this year's G7 meeting. Aside from Trump, there's Emmanuel Macron from France, Paolo Gentiloni from Italy, and Theresa May from Britain. For May and Gentiloni, the G7 Meeting may be their last because of the upcoming elections in their respective countries. Angela Merkel, not a new face in the G7 meeting, may also suffer the same fate as Germany is heading for a poll this coming September.
As of the moment, the spotlight falls on Trump. This is because of his relations with Russia, the issue with the global trade, and the war in Syria.
