Think big! Future prospects of the international summit architecture – the G20, G8, G5, and the Heiligendamm Dialogue Process

"The international dynamic to which the global financial crisis has led in the international summit architecture offers a grand opportunity to effect the global governance reform that had begun so auspiciously in the period leading up to 2005, the year of UN reform, in order then to falter. Here the Heiligendamm Dialogue Process (HDP) can play an important role as a forum for intensive, policy-specific, and in-depth reform debates. The Heiligendamm Dialogue Process, created by the G8 in 2007, may play an important role as a forum for intensive, policy-specific, and in-depth reform debates, providing a contribution to giving North-South relations a new and more inclusive shape. The present paper analyses what results the HDP has generated thus far, inquiring into the conditions required if it is to be continued successfully. The paper offers suggestions for various reform scenarios, taking current global dynamics into account (in particular the G20 financial summit). The study is based on the premise that global problems like the financial crisis or climate change can be effectively addressed only with the aid of a more inclusive and representative coordination body at the top level of global governance." (excerpt)