Bush’s G8 to-do list

On Saturday, the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries will gather in St. Petersburg and attempt to hammer out agreements on Iran and North Korea, among other lofty goals. It feels a long way from Gleneagles, and there certainly aren’t any Live8 concerts this year to raise awareness on the basics of uranium ...

607943_G8logo5.gif
607943_G8logo5.gif

On Saturday, the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries will gather in St. Petersburg and attempt to hammer out agreements on Iran and North Korea, among other lofty goals. It feels a long way from Gleneagles, and there certainly aren't any Live8 concerts this year to raise awareness on the basics of uranium enrichment and long-range missiles. But as with any high-profile political meeting, this one is as much about personalities and relationships as it is about issues. There are a few new faces this year - Merkel, Prodi, Harper - and Bush is guaranteed a little face time with them all. So what's on Bush's to-do list for St. Petersburg? In this week's List, FP takes a look at what Bush hopes to elicit from his fellow G8 leaders and what he'll have to do in return to get cooperation on everything from containing Tehran to shoring up support for Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries will gather in St. Petersburg and attempt to hammer out agreements on Iran and North Korea, among other lofty goals. It feels a long way from Gleneagles, and there certainly aren’t any Live8 concerts this year to raise awareness on the basics of uranium enrichment and long-range missiles. But as with any high-profile political meeting, this one is as much about personalities and relationships as it is about issues. There are a few new faces this year – Merkel, Prodi, Harper – and Bush is guaranteed a little face time with them all. So what’s on Bush’s to-do list for St. Petersburg? In this week’s List, FP takes a look at what Bush hopes to elicit from his fellow G8 leaders and what he’ll have to do in return to get cooperation on everything from containing Tehran to shoring up support for Afghanistan.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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