Despite presummit speculation about possible exchanges of views on issues not on the summit agenda, the leaders of the Group of Eight countries generally focused their debates over the past three days on issues contained in the scenario developed by working-level officials. Such speculation had preceded the Kyushu-Okinawa summit mainly because the historic Middle East negotiations at Camp David had drawn greater international attention. Russian President Vladimir Putin's prominent diplomatic achievement in North Korea on his way to Japan was also seen as a major distraction.
In that sense, the latest G8 meeting, the fourth such gathering hosted by Japan, did not depart from the basic pattern set by the first G7 summit held in France 25 years ago. This must have been a great relief to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who had unexpectedly taken over from the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi the taxing role of host head of government.
The Okinawa summit was concluded after progressing smoothly on the basis of the prearranged script. Yet not everything followed along the lines of its predecessors. The Okinawa G8 summit went further in one important area. This resulted from its reviewing of the past 25 years' worth of endeavors to secure global peace and prosperity. The summiteers agreed that a new and stronger partnership with developing nations, international organizations and civil groups (NGOs) is essential if the G8 is to continue playing a successful role. Specifically, they agreed to jointly tackle reform of the United Nations, centering on the Security Council.