SPOTLIGHT: G-8 SUMMIT
Federal Government/Bergmann - German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to U.S. President George W. Bush at the 2007 G8 summit
In Hokkaido, Japan, leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial democracies endorsed cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, but stopped short of setting short-term targets. President George W. Bush hailed the agreement and joined other G8 leaders stating that this was a step forward. They also called on developing nations like China and India to play a role in reducing emissions. Summit attendees are also addressing the world food crisis, fighting global poverty and the nuclear standoff with Iran. Brookings scholars examine the issues.
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Spotlight: Middle East Youth
Reuters/Zohra Bensemra - A couple sits on a park bench at Bab El Oued in Algiers, Algeria.
Despite gains in education access, young Algerians face one of the highest levels of unemployment (43%) in the Middle East. The New York Times features expert analysis by Fellows Navtej Dhillon, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Tarik Yousef of the Middle East Youth Initiative in response to the latest story on “Generation Faithful,” an exclusive Times series on examining the lives of young people across the Middle East.
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Reuters - Children eat rice that was donated, in their destroyed home near Kundangon, Burma.
The global food crisis and solutions to solve it were the focus of meetings in Rome recently featuring leaders from 150 countries. The World Bank has proposed a global food crisis response facility in response but debate will continue on how to resolve related long-term problems, including climate change, the Doha round of global trade negotiations and other trade policies. Brookings’s experts analyze a number of related issues.
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