Donald Trump’s inaugural G7 Summit

Donald Trump and members of the G7 are set to debate political and economic policy in the coastal town of Toarmina, Sicily where the 2016 Paris Climate Accord and the ongoing refugee crisis will be at the center of discussion.

Introduction

The 43rd G7 Summit held in the coastal Italian town of Taormina will be home to the leaders of the world’s greatest superpowers on May 26-27, 2017. Foreign leaders are set to discuss contested world issues, with the 2016 Paris Climate Accord and the refugee crisis likely being at the forefront of discussion.

The small coastal town of Taormina, Sicily – described as the “pearl of the Ionian Sea” – sets the stage for a contested meeting amongst world leaders from Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, China, UK and Canada.

Members of the G7 and representatives of the European Union will discuss the tumultuous problems plaguing the world, with a number of sensitive topics such as climate change, free trade and the refugee crisis sure to be at the center of discussion, despite growing security concern surrounding the town of Taormina.

Often the chosen refuge for celebrities and authors such as Ernest Hemingway and DH Lawrence, the tourist-bed coastal town’s narrow roads and bendy alleys have become a “nightmare” for secret service staffers. President Donald Trump’s camp has expressed increasing concern regarding the width of the streets conveying doubts about Mr. Trump’s motorcade being able to drive through the narrow alleys, despite several alternatives being proposed by Mayor Eligio Iardina, such as simply driving a smaller electric motorcade.

The annual G7 summit plays an imperative role in shaping economic and social policy which helps garner the best responses to global issues that may arise in the future. Italy’s preparations for the forum have been hampered by a slow transition within the U.S. State Department as the personnel issues in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s staff has led to the slowest transition of a department in ‘decades’. Reports suggest that some 116 of 119 key state department vacancies have yet to be filled, amongst them an ambassador to Italy of The Vatican.

The summit sets the stage for a discussion based on political, economic and morale ideals. Last year the world witnessed a wave of protectionist, anti-free trade candidate’s rise to the forefront of political discussion through their anti-immigration rhetoric and skeptic views on climate change. The messages of U.S. President Donald Trump and British PM Theresa May resided with millions of voters in their respected countries, which ultimately elevated them to sit alongside centrist and liberal world leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, in addition Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni and political novice Emmanuel Macron. Lying on the coast of the Ionian Sea, a short distance from Libya, the southern Italian village of Taormina will be on the international stage for what will seem like two eternally long days.

Trump’s Climactic Decision

Efforts to fight climate change led by China, Germany and the United Kingdom have often been countered by equal skepticism; amongst the leading skeptics being U.S. President Donald Trump.

Since elected, Mr. Trump has enacted several executive orders to dismantle Obama-era climate policies. Chinese President Xi Jinping has surprisingly taken leadership and augmented his climate policies dramatically, most recently moving to step away from coal and taking action to reduce carbon emissions.

U.S.-China leadership under the Obama administration was crucial to the development of the 2016 Paris Climate Accord and many believe Mr. Trump’s skepticism may alter the way members countries partaking in the accords efforts may react to a world power not agreeing to meet their quota.

Despite frustrations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States, not all members of Trump’s cabinet agree with his skepticism. White House Innovations Director Jared Kushner, his wife and daughter of Mr. Trump, Ivanka, in addition to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have all questioned Mr. Trump’s stance on the issue and have attempted to persuade him to remain in favor of keeping the U.S. in the accord.

Reports suggest that President Donald Trump will postpone his decision to stay or abandon the Paris Climate accord until after the summit; White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted that this decision was made in order to give President Trump time to “meet with his advisors and decide what’s in the best interest of the United States”. President Trump’s decision comes during a pivotal time in his short tenure as President as his administration continues to face mounting pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill regarding the Presidents connection to Russia during the 2016 elections.

Mr. Trump will face insurmountable pressure from member states to keep the United States in a global agreement, as opting to abandon the accord may harm the prospects of G7 nations cooperating with the United States in other issues, from trade to the refugee crisis.

The European Migrant Crisis

Ongoing violence in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to the escalating conflict in Syria continues bear responsible for the refugee crisis plaguing Europe. Since 2015, over one million refugees have entered Germany and Italians have seen a 44 percent rise in refugee migrants in 2017 alone despite diplomatic efforts to stem their flow.

Migration has become a political liability for Germany and Italy’s Paolo Gentiloni’s center-left government as he begins to deal with the same thwart of attacks from the European populist parties that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is all too familiar with. Merkel continues to promise to not turn away any Syrian refugees and refuses to set an upper limit for the number of asylum-seekers that Germany can take in, despite the crime rate among migrants rising by more than 50 percent last year alone.

Speaking at the invitation to Angela Merkel’ W-20 summit panel on women’s economic empowerment in Berlin this past month, Ivanka Trump expressed a unique sentiment towards the refugee crisis that seem foreign to the Trump administration’s migration platform; noting that “there is a global humanitarian crisis that is happening and we have to come together and solve it”.

Donald Trump’s refugee rhetoric is one that draws a stark contrast to his daughter’s wishes and Obama-era policies that were implemented to help European counterparts ease the process of the massive influx of migrants. An executive order signed by Mr. Trump in March, which is currently held up on the courts, plans to ban immigrants from six Muslim majority countries – including Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

This past week, Donald Trump stood before leaders from 55 Muslim countries and called on them to join the United States in “honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism, the Islamists, and Islamic terror of all kinds”. Trump’s speech intended to unite the broader Muslim world against the common enemies despite signing executive orders barring migrants from entering the U.S.

Conclusion

The G7 summit provides a platform for leaders come up with plausible social and economic policy proposals that will benefit member countries and the world as a whole. Despite there being array of problems to discuss during the summit, pundits hope members of the G7 can leave Taormina on May 27 with a climate accord that will remained intact and new policies to alleviate the migrant crisis in Europe. emigrant crisis in Europe.