What is the G20 summit?

[Bitter Ashes]

I'm going to seem soooo stupid for asking this, but I'm having some unstanding in a tangible way what the G20 summit actualy is and whether the protests are targetting the policies that will come from the summit, or just the goverments and bankers that attend.
I've had a look at wikipedia and I'm still confused, so anyone who feels like doing a "G20 for dummies" guide, it'd be much appreciated :blushing:

[Bright Banana Beard]

Heh, you are not alone, I have limited understanding similar to your view. It is damn confusing, from what I know. 20 Nations are in discussion together to how to combat terrorism, poverty, depression, etc. by working together. I mainly see it as bourgeoisie reporting each other about how to combat the poplar uprising and to stay in power.

[Shin Honyong]

The G20 summit is a meeting where the top 19 most developed countries plus the EU (IE there is a representative from the EU central bank; other European countries like France and Germany are still there) in the world meet up to discuss global financial policies. The idea is that hopefully the developed world will reach consensus on such issues and thus create a more integrated world. A mostly neoliberal dream, since like most economic summits of this magnitude, it generally either fails due to disagreement or it comes to the advantage of the developed world while smaller countries generally suffer.

[JimmyJazz]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/03/2009314165757794380.html


Delegates from the G20 agenda-forming summit in the UK promised to increase regulations and fight the threat of protectionism.

...

"We ... are prepared to take whatever action is necessary until growth is restored. We commit to fight all forms of protectionism and maintain open trade and investment."They basically have an agenda of free trade. I'm not going to lay out the case against free trade (it's easy to find), but in brief, they are by their own admission pushing to continue the standard set of neoliberal policies of the last 30 years or so, despite the fact that the system created by these policies is currently in mid-collapse, and the fact that global inequality is literally at a record high. They aim to make undeveloped countries even more dependent on developed ones, relegating them to the role of raw materials/cheap labor for Western capital.

So it's basically the richest countries in the world meeting to decide how to squeeze even more out of the rest of the world.

BTW, here are some alternatives to the G20 (don't expect the media of the G20 countries to give them coverage):

The South Centre (http://www.southcentre.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1)
Group of 77 (http://www.g77.org/doc/)
The Non-Aligned Movement (http://www.nam.gov.za/)

And speaking of media, here's a voice from the underdeveloped world:

Al Jazeera English (http://english.aljazeera.net/) (it's a secular station, not Muslim)