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The Documentation of the G7/G8 System:

4. Other Sources of Information About the G7/G8

A. Archives

Presidential, prime ministerial, as well as foreign, finance and other ministry archives are a very significant source of further G7/G8 information. These archives will yield the best and most reliable record of G7/G8 meetings, especially if note-takers at the meetings were accurate and comprehensive in their work. The Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan includes archival material related to the 1975 Rambouillet Summit and the 1976 San Juan Summit46. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration lists extensive holdings from the Carter administration concerning the 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 summits47. As and when these and other archives in summit countries are opened, their holdings will, no doubt, be explored by researchers seeking access to first-hand accounts by participants of summits and G7/G8 ministerial meetings.

B. Writings about the G7/G8

There is a large and growing corpus of writings about various aspects of the G7/G8: scholarly analyses; compilations of texts of documents, often accompanied by additional material of reference value; government publications, including parliamentary reviews in summit countries; memoirs and other writings by prominent former summit participants; reference works of various types; media accounts including reportage and analysis in newspapers, journals, radio and television; and, increasingly, Internet resources, with some Web sites devoted to the G7/G8 either on an ad hoc or permanent basis. Here are some examples of writings in each category:

Scholarly analyses:

  • Bergsten, C. Fred, and C. Randall Henning. Global Economic Leadership and the Group of Seven. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 1996.

  • Funabashi, Yoichi. Samittokurashi (Summitocracy). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1991.

  • Herz, Bernhard, and Joachim Starbatty. "Zur Frage Internationaler Dominanzbeziehungen: Eine Analyse der Machtverteilung auf Weltwirtschaftsgipfeln." (On the Question of International Relations among Dominant Powers: An Analysis of the Distribution of Power at the World Economic Summits). Kyklos 44 (1991), Fasc. 1:35-55.

  • Kirton, John J. "Contemporary Concert Diplomacy: The Seven-Power Summit and the Management of International Order." Paper prepared for the annual meeting of the International Studies Association and the British International Studies Association, London, March 29-April 1, 1989. [Computer file.] URL: www.library.utoronto.ca/www/g7/scholor/kirton198901/index.html.

  • Kokotsis, Eleonore. National Compliance with G7 Environment and Development Commitments, 1988-1995. Ph.D. dissertation. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1998. Unpublished.

  • Ostry, Sylvia. Summitry: The Medium and the Message. Bissell Paper No. 3. Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for International Studies, 1988.

  • Putnam, Robert D., and Nicholas Bayne. Hanging Together: Cooperation and Conflict in the Seven-Power Summits. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987.

  • Von Furstenberg, George M., and Joseph P. Daniels. Economic Summit Declarations, 1975-1989: Examining the Written Record of International Cooperation. Princeton Studies in International Finance, No. 72. Princeton, N. J.: International Finance Section, Dept. of Economics, Princeton University, 1992.

Compilations of texts (often with additional comment or reference material):

  • Japan. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. G-7 Official Documents, 1975-1992. Tokyo: MFA, 1993. 2 3½'' diskettes.

  • Hajnal, Peter I., comp. and ed. The Seven-Power Summit: Documents from the Summits of Industrialized Countries, 1975-1989. With an introduction by John J. Kirton. Millwood, N.Y.: Kraus International Publications, 1989.

  • The Twenty G-7 Summits. On the Occasion of the Twentieth Summit, Naples, July 8-10, 1994. Rome: Adnkronos Libri in Collaboration with Istituto Affari Internazionali, 1994.

Parliamentary scrutiny by G7 countries:

  • Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. From Bretton Woods to Halifax and beyond: Towards a 21st Summit for the 21st Century Challenge: Report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the Issues of International Financial Institutions Reforms for the Agenda of the June 1995 G-7 Halifax Summit. Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Respecting, Pursuant to Standing Order 108 (2), an Examination of the Agenda for the G-7 Summit, in Halifax and in Particular, Reform of the International Financial Institutions, Including the Fourth Report to the House. Thirty-fifth Parliament, First Session, Issue No 25, May 9, 1995. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1995.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Session 1992/1993. [Prime Minister John Major's statement on the 1993 Tokyo Summit]. In Parliamentary Debates, 6th Series, Vol. 228, cols. 669-71. London: House of Commons, 12 July 1993.

  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Economic Summit, Latin Debt, and the Baker Plan: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, Second Session, May 20, 1986. S. Hrg. 99-889. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986.

Memoirs and other writings by prominent former summit participants:

  • Attali, Jacques. Verbatim. Paris: Fayard, 1993-1995. [Tome 1: Chronique des années 1981-1986; Tome 2: Chronique des années 1986-1988; Tome 3: Chronique des années 1988-1991.]

  • Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry. "A Communiqué for Williamsburg." The Economist 287, No. 7290 (May 21, 1983): 15-18.

  • Heath, Edward. "The Heath Memorandum." The Times (London), July 20, 1981: 10.

  • Schmidt, Helmut. Menschen und Mächte (Men and Powers). Berlin: Siedler, 1987-1990. 2 vols.

  • Thatcher, Margaret. The Downing Street Years. London: Harper-Collins, 1993.

Reference works:

  • Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. G8 Birmingham Summit, May 1998. Background Brief. London: FCO, 1998.
  • Canada. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The Denver Summit, June 20-22, 1997: Background Information. Ottawa: DFAIT, 1997.

  • Hajnal, Peter I. G7/G8 Bibliography. [Computer file.] URL: https://www.library.utoronto.ca/www/g7/bibliography/index.htm

  • United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs. "Fact Sheet: Economic Summits, 1988-95." US Department of State Dispatch (Vol. 6, Supplement No. 4; July 1995): 15-19.

Media accounts:

  • "Bill Clinton's Golden Moment." The Economist 343, No. 8022 (June 21, 1997): 16-17.

  • "Economic Summit." The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 1990: R1-R40. The Wall Street Journal Reports. New York.

  • Stephens, Philip. "Major Calls for Overhaul of G7 Summits." Financial Times (London), September 10, 1992: 1. (Summary of John Major's unpublished letter of August 1992 to other G-7 heads of state or government.)

  • Sutherland, Peter. "Le Directeur général du GATT réclame une refonte du G7." (The Director General of GATT calls for remodelling of the G7). Le Monde, 3 février, 1994: 18. (Summary of speech at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, on replacing the G-7 with a broader institution.)

Internet resources:

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Updated: June 25, 1998

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