Group of Five
Encyclopedia
The Group of Five encompasses five nations which have joined together for an active role in the rapidly evolving international order. Individually and as a group, the G5 nations work to promote dialogue and understanding between developing and developed countries. The G5 seek to find common solutions to global challenges. The G5 initially included the world's five leading economies: the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France. The G5 later evolved into the G8 with Italy, Canada and Russia being the additional three leading economies.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the world's leading economies came to be conventionally identified as the Group of Eight
, and the term "G5" came to be used in a slightly different way than it had been used 25 year earlier. In the 21st century, the G5 were understood to be the five largest emerging economies, and these are:
The G8 plus the five largest emerging economies has come to be known as G8+5
.
emerged following the 1973 oil crisis
and subsequent global recession
. In 1974 the United States created the informal Library Group, an unofficiall gathering of senior financial officials from the United States
, the United Kingdom
, West Germany
, Japan
and France
. These men were called the "Library group" because they met informally in the library of the White House in Washington, DC.
During the 1970s, the term "Group of Five" came to be identified the top five of the world's the leading economies as ranked by per capita GDP. Without the informal meetings of the G5 finance ministers, there would have been no subsequent meetings of G-5 leaders. In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
invited six heads of government from West Germany, Italy
, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to an economic summit in Château de Rambouillet
. At the time, it was impossible to predict whether this informal gathering would be meaningful or only a public relations event.
In subsequent years, the group of world leaders expanded to reflect changed economic and political developments:
The success of this collaboration led to the growth of the G5 as an independent voice. The G5 expresses common interests and viewpoints in the search of solutions to major global issues.
A number of cohesive elements bind the G5 together in promoting a constructive dialogue between developed and developing countries.
or an epistemic community
. The G5 membership is marked by a range of attributes and factors, including
(a) a shared set of normative and principled beliefs, which provide a value-based rationale for the social action of community members;
(b) shared causal beliefs, which are derived from their analysis of practices leading or contributing to a central set of problems in their domain and which then serve as the basis for elucidating the multiple linkages between possible policy actions and desired outcomes;
(c) shared notions of validity — that is, intersubjective, internally defined criteria for weighing and validating knowledge in the domain of their expertise; and
(d) a common policy enterprise -- that is, a set of common practices associated with a set of problems to which their group competence is directed.
By design, the G5 has avoided establishing an administrative structure like those of other international organizations, but a coordinator has been designated to help improve the G5's effectiveness.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the world's leading economies came to be conventionally identified as the Group of Eight
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
, and the term "G5" came to be used in a slightly different way than it had been used 25 year earlier. In the 21st century, the G5 were understood to be the five largest emerging economies, and these are:
The G8 plus the five largest emerging economies has come to be known as G8+5
G8+5
The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government from the G8 nations , plus the heads of government of the five leading emerging economies .-February 2007 Declaration:On February 16, 2007, The Global Legislators Organisation The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government...
.
History
The Group of Five is a context-dependant shorthand term for a group of five nations. The composition of the five and what is encompassed by the term is construed differently in different time frames. Initially, the term "Group of Five" or "G5" encompassed the five leading economies of the world, but the use of the term changed over time. It came to be used to identify the next tier of nations whose economies had expanded so substantially as to be construed in the same category as the world's eight largest.20th century G5
The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized democraciesDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
emerged following the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and subsequent global recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
. In 1974 the United States created the informal Library Group, an unofficiall gathering of senior financial officials from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. These men were called the "Library group" because they met informally in the library of the White House in Washington, DC.
During the 1970s, the term "Group of Five" came to be identified the top five of the world's the leading economies as ranked by per capita GDP. Without the informal meetings of the G5 finance ministers, there would have been no subsequent meetings of G-5 leaders. In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
invited six heads of government from West Germany, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to an economic summit in Château de Rambouillet
Château de Rambouillet
The château de Rambouillet is a castle in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, southwest of Paris...
. At the time, it was impossible to predict whether this informal gathering would be meaningful or only a public relations event.
In subsequent years, the group of world leaders expanded to reflect changed economic and political developments:
- 1975 — the Group of Six (G6) evolved from the G5.
- 1976 — the Group of Seven (G7) was created when Canada joined the G6.
- 1997 — the Group of EightG8The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
(G8G8The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
) was formed when Russia joined the G7.
21st century G5
An innovation at the Gleneagles G8 summit in 2005 was an "outreach dialogue." The United Kingdom was host for the annual summit of G8 leaders; and the UK invited the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa to participate. The invitation caused the five countries to negotiate amongst themselves about presenting common positions.The success of this collaboration led to the growth of the G5 as an independent voice. The G5 expresses common interests and viewpoints in the search of solutions to major global issues.
A number of cohesive elements bind the G5 together in promoting a constructive dialogue between developed and developing countries.
Structure and activities
The G5 is an informal group for discussions involving an intentional communityIntentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
or an epistemic community
Epistemic community
An epistemic community is a transnational network of knowledge-based experts who help decision-makers to define the problems they face, identify various policy solutions and assess the policy outcomes. The definitive conceptual framework of an epistemic community is widely accepted as that of Peter...
. The G5 membership is marked by a range of attributes and factors, including
(a) a shared set of normative and principled beliefs, which provide a value-based rationale for the social action of community members;
(b) shared causal beliefs, which are derived from their analysis of practices leading or contributing to a central set of problems in their domain and which then serve as the basis for elucidating the multiple linkages between possible policy actions and desired outcomes;
(c) shared notions of validity — that is, intersubjective, internally defined criteria for weighing and validating knowledge in the domain of their expertise; and
(d) a common policy enterprise -- that is, a set of common practices associated with a set of problems to which their group competence is directed.
By design, the G5 has avoided establishing an administrative structure like those of other international organizations, but a coordinator has been designated to help improve the G5's effectiveness.