The G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg and Russia

The G8 summit in St. Petersburg from July 15 through 17, 2006 was regarded as a triumph for Russia as a host country that took advantage of the moment to assert its re-emergence on the world stage. The G8 leaders except Russia agreed to avoid pressuring Russia on its domestic policy, after a lot of accusations by Western leaders and the press on rollbacks in democracy.

By focusing on and examining energy security with special reference to Russia's energy resources and strategic position, this paper shows why and how Russia was able to become only winner at this G-8 summit. Moreover this paper points out why education was set as one of the summit's priority subjects and how Russia, in cooperation with other G-8 members and the United Nations, was becoming capable of giving a new impulse for international cooperation for peace to resolve many issues such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and regional crises, including human security issues in the area of fighting infectious diseases.