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tical scientists fear that suchindiscriminate use could blur the concept ofsummit.To gain more clarity,they establish
two essential criteria.The first key element of summitry isexecutive participation,diplomacy at thehighest possible level.
1
Participation here
might mean not only state leaders,but also
leaders of international organizations such as
NATO or the European Union.The second isthat summit meetings are distinguished by theform of personal contact,meaning thatparticipants communicate face-to-face.Thismakes a difference,because it is more difficultand usually involves a ceremonial dimensionthat represents a greater commitment of time,energy,and political risk than is present in,say,a telephone call.
2
Additional character-istics of proper summits are that mostmeetings lack formal decision-makingcompetencies in the sense of legal or
constitutional bases athttps://www.51lunwen.org/tributed to them.Moreover,most do not command permanentadministrative support or a secretarialstructure independent of national adminis-trations.
To better understand the roleof summits,it makes sense to
differentiate types of summitsaccording to formal criteria,such
as whether they are bilateral ormultilateral,regional orworldwide.Much more helpful,however,is to make a distinctionby goals.This it not an easy task,since there seem to be no limitsin choosing a summit’s specifictopic.US-Soviet summits wereoften dominated by arms controlissues.The NATO Summit in
April 1990 on the occasion of the 50
t hanniversary of the Atlantic alliance originallyplanned to conclude a new“strategic concept”but in the end the whole event was dominated
by the Kosovo conflict.The so-called“Conclusions of the President”published aftereach meeting of the European Council usually
amount to more than a dozen typewrittenpages(not including appendices)covering
almost every issue the EU is concerned with:
institutional reforms,enlargement,
employment policies,environmental issues,and many other areas.As Peter Hajnal and John Kirton explain inthis issue of NIRA Review,the evolution of theG8 agenda is also remarkable.Originally theheads of state met to debate internationalmonetary and exchange rate issues.With thepassing of time,however,these meetings havebecome more and more political.Already by1981 or 1982,discussion of East-West relationsfeatured prominently on the agenda.The mainissue at the 1988 Tokyo Summit was terrorism.In the early 1990s the World EconomicSummit,which took place in Houston,
THE FIRST KEY
ELEMENT OF SUMMITRY
IS EXECUTIVE
PARTICIPATION,
DIPLOMACY AT THE
HIGHEST POSSIBLE
LEVEL.
1
Dunn,D.(1986),p17
2
Ibid,p19Spring 2000 18
London,and Tokyo,was preoccupied mainly
with the transformation of Russia and the
former Soviet-bloc countries of Eastern Europe.
The most recent summit in K?ln in 1999 was
overshadowed by the Kosovo crisis,but it also
might be remembered for its proposals of debtrelief for“Third World”
countries.Because the specificsubjects of summits canvary greatly,the settingof the agenda is a highlypolitical process.Itshapes the outcome ofsuch a meeting anddetermines its specific
outlook or character.Thereare summits,such as peaceconferences,whose singlepurpose is to end conflict.Othersummits are convened to establish a neworder or develop an existing one.Someconferences at the highest level serve asinstruments to give new orientations or toreassure the participants of