The Role Of Reagan Government In The G-7 Summit

The Reagan administration(1981-1988)participated in eight western g-7 summits(also known as the g-7 Summit),which mainly discussed the dollar and free trade in the economic field.In the political field,the Siberian gas pipeline and strategic defense plan,global issues and the declaration of values in the cultural field,etc.The proposal and settlement of these issues and the subsequent agreements have had a profound impact on international relations.Therefore,it is of great significance to research Reagan's role in the g7 summit.Especially,The Reagan administration used the diplomatic platform of the g-7 summit to promote close ties between western countries and ease domestic economic tensions,which formed the unique style of the Reagan administration in these eight summits.This paper attempts to analyze and elaborate the Reagan administration's leading,coordinating,demonstrating and restricting role in the g7 summit from the following aspects.Firstly,it introduces the historical evolution of the g7 summit,including the generation of the g7 summit,the organizational structure,the procedures of the g7 summit,and the historical evolution of the United States' participation in the g7 summit.Secondly,Showing the four roles of Reagan administration played in the g7 summit.Its leading role was to use the dollar and high interest rates to impose new economic rules,introduce political issues against the Soviet Union at economic summits and promote "democratic" values.The coordination effect is manifested in both domestic and international aspects.This paper expounds that the Reagan administration institutionalized the g7 summit after participating in it and promoted the model role of the us-soviet summit.It introduces the Reagan administration's restriction on the g7 summit,which is reflected in its attempt to use the g7 summit to "control" the United Nations and the international monetary fund--undermining the informal nature of the g7 summit and breaking its promise under the pressure of domestic public opinion--undermining the international credibility of the g7 summit.Finally,from the international and domestic aspects,this paper explores the reasons for the four functions mentioned above and argues that the Reagan administration played a leading,coordinating,demonstrating and restraining role in the g7 summit.The profound reasons are mainly reflected in the relative decline of American power in the international context,the increasing bureaucratization of international organizations,and the need for the unity of capitalist countries.Domestic reasons in the United States include economic monetarism,political and social conservatism and Reagan's personal factors.The role of the Reagan administration in the g7 was multiple and even contradictory.This kind of multiplicity and contradiction just reflected the turning point change of power structure between western industrial countries in the 1980s.