RUSSIA'S EXPULSION OF G-8 SERVES NO CONSTRUCTIVE PURPOSE

The decision (instigated by the U.S.) and endorsed by Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to evict Russian from the G-8 is a fairly empty gesture. First there’s no formal enforcement mechanism for removing a country from the G-8, which has been meeting since 1975, so all the other countries have to do is not invite Russia to their party. The expulsion serves no constructive purpose. On the contrary, concerted efforts to punish Russia over Ukraine will in all likelihood cause President Putin to become increasingly more intransigent, and that could easily spill over into other areas where Russian cooperation is needed.

The eviction of Russia from the Group of 8 will only play into the hands of nationalist forces in Russia who believe in their country’s uniquely ‘Eurasian’ destiny.

Although G8 is inconsequential and decides little in the world today (G-20 is much more powerful), what goes on behind the scenes is much more important. The way these G8 meetings usually work is that the host country’s leader would also have private meetings with each of the visiting country’s leaders. These meetings are necessary to discuss mutual trade issues, agreements and disagreements and to keep tabs on each other. Just like with interpersonal affairs, communication is key as without it more misunderstandings will arise.

EU needs to wake up and realize that it needs to work with Russia, not against it. It is only through negotiations (not expulsion) that we will be able to restore trust between the EU and Russia. One can say that EU-Russia relations have approached the moment of truth. To develop  cooperation continuously and purposefully both sides should understand whether they want to proceed along the way of attaining ambitious goals of strategic partnership. Otherwise they will go on stumbling at every step because of a lack of clear sense of direction. Information wars won’t help, what is needed is real leadership and political wisdom.