" J7 e2 v Y& x$ l6 rFür eine Fußballmannschaft mit 8+1 zu wenig - der Klimakompromiss ist nach Meinung von Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber dennoch die Steilvorlage für das entscheidende Tor im Klimaschutz 5 S5 V) U; k$ u+ T6 S 7 r+ ]6 J! r# F1 J6 C: X1 D U* F# \
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Rifts May Disrupt G-8 Agenda 1 k5 u; ^0 z" c1 t5 c* F% [* Z( \- H8 [2 P. y' Y: I
Leaders of the Group of Eight leading nations gather this week for a summit aimed at producing a historic agreement on Germany''s vision for solving global warming. Instead, the meeting is likely to be marked by discord: between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin over defense issues, and between Mr. Bush and Europe over global warming. 0 z; N& A; ?. R! N- c2 y0 q: M Q1 S6 {% `
The rifts underscore how the G-8 sometimes has come up short in addressing complex economic problems and how, some experts say, its meetings have increasingly become occasions for short-term crisis management and political theater. 4 N. f$ f& X' r: V5 G2 V : v/ D8 [9 r6 S& LMr. Bush will add to the dramatics today with a speech that warns of new dangers to freedom around the world, both from Islamic radicalism and from authoritarian repression. Mr. Bush will make his remarks at a conference on democracy and security in Prague that is rife with reminders of the Soviet-era aggressiveness that Mr. Bush worries is on the rise again in Russia. Other scheduled speakers include former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky and former Czech President Vaclav Havel, who led the Czech Republic''s emergence from the Soviet bloc. + Z6 P1 J v7 T7 S# V( U% ^
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The event is likely to add to friction between the U.S. and Russia, just days after Mr. Putin threatened to reaim Russian nuclear missiles at European targets if the U.S. goes forward with a planned missile-defense shield in the Czech Republic and in Poland. While Mr. Bush''s remarks will look beyond Eastern Europe, he plans to discuss how democracy and freedom function 'as alternatives to repression and radicalism,' a senior administration official said, and 'how today''s world poses new threats to democracy and freedom.' 4 i. U2 A$ r% c( Y2 j+ d2 x; z0 L
% ~" O* _9 R/ X' _& |& AAll the bluster is threatening to further upset the G-8 meeting that begins tomorrow in the German seaside resort of Heiligendamm. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds the group''s rotating presidency, had hoped to use the summit to lay the groundwork for new international curbs on emissions of the greenhouse gases that are thought to contribute to global warming. But Mr. Bush threw those plans into disarray last week, with his proposal for a new set of negotiations this fall on climate-change goals, to be held among the world''s 15 biggest polluters. 2 O7 b% q% y6 A* A2 m1 B6 G
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That dialogue likely would include the current G-8 members -- the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom -- as well as emerging Asian powers China, India and South Korea, in addition to Australia, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. In many cases, leaders of those nations prefer the Bush administration''s looser, more pragmatic approach to global warming to the hard-and-fast limits favored by Ms. Merkel and many Europeans. ) N6 L" `! K/ @2 c u. k ) A; q1 V. O( x/ k5 {Ms. Merkel acknowledged over the weekend that she probably won''t get the deal on climate change that she is seeking since Mr. Bush continues to resist specific commitments to cut carbon emissions. 'If the United States doesn''t move, others may also prefer to wait and see,' Ms. Merkel told German news magazine Der Spiegel. Most European officials worry that Mr. Bush''s counterproposal is vague and could undermine the European Union''s strategy for combating climate change through concrete commitments. 6 E+ H p n, W# P5 \# ]1 N0 N - S9 i4 C) U; }! ~7 pThe breakdown on climate policy and the growing focus on the U.S.-Russian conflict and related security crises, such as Iran''s nuclear program, reflect the difficulty the G-8 sometimes has had in living up to hopes it would become a forum for thrashing out long-term global economic-policy problems. * g+ j4 _/ H- [' C& F8 ] H: D: J; X/ I'On these big long-term issues, there''s a lot of happy talk, but not much action,' said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. As a result, he said, the summit''s 'utility is evolving away from scripted, preplanned communiques to more free-flowing discussions among the big players.' : Y6 x9 N4 B& Y" g3 ]1 P + @3 J1 g* E2 Q( t3 x# EAs an example of G-8 success, Steve Sestanovich, a Clinton administration adviser on the former Soviet states, points to 1999, when the G-8 became a forum for the major powers to assemble on a United Nations Security Council resolution ending the Kosovo war. 'What mattered was that there was a concrete question that could be addressed and answered,' he said. 'When the G-8 has tried to serve as the high-minded voice of the civilized world -- on development goals or now perhaps climate change -- it''s been less effective.'