Today's world is crowded with international laws and institutions that govern the global economy. This post-World War II accumulation of hard multilateral and soft plurilateral institutions by no means constitutes a comprehensive, coherent and effective system of global economic governance. As intensifying globalization thrusts many longstanding domestic issues onto the international stage, there is a growing need to create at the global level the more comprehensive, coherent and effective governance system that citizens have long taken for granted at home.

This book offers the first comprehensive look at this critical question of international relations. It examines how, and how well, the multilateral organizations and the G8 are dealing with the central challenges facing the contemporary international community, how they have worked well and poorly together, and how they can work together more effectively to provide badly needed public goods. It is an ideal reference guide for anyone interested in institutions of global governance.

Contents: Preface; Part I Introduction: Introduction, arguments and conclusions, John Kirton, Marina Larionova and Paolo Savona. Part II Multilateral Organizations and the G8: Academic Analyses: Multilateral organizations and G8 governance: a framework for analysis, John Kirton; The new partnership between multilateral organizations and the G8, Marina Larionova; Financial crises, the International Monetary Fund and the G8, Ivan Savic; Finance and development compliance in the G8: the IMF and World Bank role, John Kirton, Nikolai Roudev and Laura Sunderland. Part III Multilateral Organizations and the G8: Practitioners' Perspectives: Finance, macroeconomics and the multilateral organization-G8 connection, Robert Fauver; Development, the Commonwealth and the G8, Ade Adefuye; Trade, the World Trade Organization and the Doha development agenda, Roy MacLaren. Part IV The St Petersburg Priorities: Energy, Education, Information, and Health: Energy security and sustainable development: the WTO and the Energy Charter Treaty, Sylvia Ostry; Energy security: Russia, the European Union and the G8, Nodari A. Simonia; Energy security: the International Energy Agency and the G8, Victoria V. Panova; Education, the G8 and UNESCO, John Kirton, Laura Sunderland and Jenilee Guebert; Information and communication: G8 institutionalization and compliance in the DOT Force, Gina Stephens; Health compliance in the G8 and APEC: the World Health Organization's role, John Kirton, NiKolai Roudev, Laura Sunderland, Catherine Kunz and Jenilee Guebert. Part V The G8's St Petersburg Summit and Beyond: The G8 at St Petersburg and beyond, John Kirton; The 2006 St. Petersburg G8 Summit: conclusions and critiques, Andrew F. Cooper; Appendices; Index

About the Editor: John J Kirton, University of Toronto, Canada, Marina Larionova, State University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow and Paolo Savona, University of Rome Guglielmo Marconi, Italy.

Reviews: 'This volume provides an invaluable and comprehensive treatment of a range of topics covered by the G8 summit process.'
Stephen Woolcock, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

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Full contents list

Introduction

Index