Marta Dassù sees G8 states as still important

After the summit in Deauville many observers are questioning the G8's relevance. Political scientist Marta Dassù takes issue with this view in the liberal daily La Stampa: "The US and Europe are finally recovering from their decline in recent years. Given the rise of the so-called 'acceptable autocracies' led by China, democracy seemed to doomed to failure as a competitive political system. ... But the US and Europe are gradually beginning to understand the importance of their mutual relations. With the shift of the global economic axis towards the Pacific the old transatlantic alliance is obviously no longer enough to rule the world. ... Finally, the Russian question plays a role. Moscow can hardly be described as a member of an alliance of ripe democracies. However the G8 serves to anchor Russia in the extended West, therefore forming a counterweight to the new relations that are developing among the Bric states (the emerging economies) which include Russia and China."

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