G8 and NATO leaders have a lot on their plates this weekend

WASHINGTON—It kicks off Friday with a rare gathering of world leaders at Camp David, U.S. President Barack Obama’s hermetically sealed Maryland mountain retreat.

And it ends in Obama’s adopted hometown Chicago barely 56 hours later, where the intimate G8 gathering gives way to a summit of NATO and friends involving more than 60 invited heads of state. And, almost certainly, demonstrators in the thousands.

But with a world of challenge on its cluttered agenda — the wobbly eurozone crisis and the accelerating exit from Afghanistan ranking uppermost — Obama’s whirlwind weekend of meetings is expected to squeeze many to the margins.

With G8 leaders beset by austerity budgets, no new money for the developing world is expected from the world’s richest nations, as they grapple for ways to build on $22 billion in pledges made three years ago.

Instead, Obama is to preface the weekend with a Friday speech in Washington outlining plans to enlist as many as 45 major private corporations in the G8 goal of lifting 50 million people out of hunger.

The issue of food security is also slated for a working lunch Saturday at a crowded Camp David, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his seven counterparts are to stay in private cottages for the first half of the weekend before flying on to Chicago.

Canada’s “good record” on past pledges will be on display Saturday when the G8 tables a report showing Ottawa’s $1.18-billion commitment has been met, a spokesman for Harper said Friday in a briefing for reporters.

Iran and Syria are to dominate the discussion when Harper joins his colleagues for a Friday night’s opening dinner. Saturday’s sessions are expected to be overtaken by the widening gulf over austerity versus stimulus as G8 leaders grapple anew with the euro crisis.

And money will continue to be a significant theme in Chicago, where NATO is expecting pledges of as much as $4.1 billion a year to finance the fledgling Afghan army for 10 years beyond 2014. Much of the discussion is expected to fix on the shape and size of Afghan forces as the U.S. and its allies work out details of a phased withdrawal.

Harper is not expected to meet Obama one-on-one at either venue.

The contrast between the small-group intimacy at Camp David and the NATO gathering in Chicago is to come into high relief at suppertime Sunday when the NATO delegates meet for a working dinner at Soldier Field. It remains unclear whether it will take place “on the 50-yard line,” a PMO official joked.

Harper will attend Camp David alone, with Foreign Minister John Baird and Defence Minister Peter MacKay sharing supporting roles when the PM lands in Chicago.

White House officials acknowledged the Camp David preparations involved tricky logistics to make room for eight delegations. It was unclear how Harper fared in the apportioning of cabins on the property, with some too small to house more than a leader and one or two aides. Some supporting staff were expected to sleep in trailers.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Mitch Potter