Russia, China, Ukraine, Africa: What’s on the G7 agenda in Italy?
Al JazeeraBari, Italy – Leaders of advanced economies are gearing up for the annual Group of Seven meeting in Italy in a year marked by wars – in Europe and the Middle East – and growing competition between the West and China. The G7 is expected to back US President Joe Biden’s three-phase ceasefire proposal, which the UN Security Council endorsed on Sunday, and on the demand for the return of all captives currently held in Gaza. “ Italy’s priority is Africa and to show that G7 is advancing its outreach towards the continent although there won’t be many new initiatives due to scarce resources,” Ettore Greco, vice president of the Rome-based think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali, said. But as the 2008 global financial crisis hit and alternative groupings emerged – from the G20 to a recently expanded BRICS – the G7’s relevance shifted from being the most powerful economic club to a group of like-minded industrialised countries. This is the first G7 Summit since the expansion of the BRICS — a group whose leading members include China and Russia — last year served as a pointer to the mounting disillusionment in the so-called Global South over the West’s policies.