Group Of Seven

Subject: IR

Context:

US President wanted to expand G7 group by including India, Russia, South Korea, and Australia and said present form of is outdated

Concept:

Countries:

• The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ is Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Origin

• It is an intergovernmental organization that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
• Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.
• Initially formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues, the G-7 forum has deliberated about several challenges over the decades, such as the oil crashes of the 1970s, the economic changeover of ex-Soviet bloc nations, and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
• The G-7 was known as the ‘G-8’ for several years after the original seven were joined by Russia in 1997. The Group returned to being called G-7 after Russia was expelled as a member in 2014 following the latter’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
• The G-7 does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters.
• The G-7 nations meet at annual summits that are presided over by leaders of member countries on a rotational basis
• The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.

Relevance

• The rise of India, China and Brazil over the past few decades has reduced the G-7’s relevance, whose share in global GDP has now fallen to around 40%.