March 12, 2012

Why did the Obama administration move the Group of 8 summit scheduled for May in Chicago to Camp David? Eric Ruder looks at the factors involved.

THE OBAMA administration abruptly announced last week that the summit of the Group of Eight heads of state planned for May 19-20 would be moved from Chicago to Camp David in Maryland. It was a victory for activists who have been planning--in defiance of new measures designed to hamstring demonstrations--for protests against the G8 and the NATO military alliance, whose summit on May 20-21 will continue as planned.

According to news reports, even Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel--who was Obama's chief of staff before he became mayor--was caught off guard by the announcement. On the morning of March 5, Emanuel was still singing the praises of the upcoming G8 meeting, but by afternoon, the White House had moved the meeting and the Emanuel administration was left to put its best spin on the cancellation.

National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor gave this explanation for the surprise move:

The President thought Camp David would provide an informal and intimate setting to have a free-flowing discussion with his fellow leaders. He very much looks forward to coming to his hometown for a critically important NATO summit as planned.

President Obama at a recent press conference (Bob Nichols)

Yeah right.

Most media reports cited planned protests by unions, community groups, the Occupy movement and antiwar activists as a factor in the decision--and activists in Chicago were happy to bid the G8 farewell.

"One down, one to go," said Occupy Chicago activist John McDonald. "Our message to the G8 is that you can run, but you can't hide. We will march in our thousands on the weekend of your summit, and whether you're in Chicago or Camp David, we will stand against your agenda of stacking up profits for the 1 percent while forcing austerity down the throats of the 99 percent."

Chicago activists are moving ahead with plans for a permitted mass march the weekend of the summit and a People's Summit scheduled for a weekend earlier, on May 12-13. The People's Summit will bring together activists for plenaries, workshops and entertainment dedicated to putting forward a vision of a world without war and austerity.

The Obama administration announced its plan for a joint NATO/G8 summit in Chicago in the summer of 2011. The only other time that NATO and the G8 met at the same time and place was 35 years ago, in London in 1977.

The timing of last year's announcement for the G8 and NATO meetings means that in all likelihood, planning for the joint summit began before the revolutionary upsurge in the Middle East, before the explosion of protest against Wis. Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union legislation, and certainly before the Occupy movement burst onto the scene.

As a consequence, the Obama administration hadn't counted on the level of mobilization that it had to anticipate if it had followed through on the plan to bring the G8 to Chicago--a city with a massive gap between rich and poor and a rich history of social protest.

The decision to move the G8 summit to Camp David, a heavily guarded compound about 60 miles outside of Washington, D.C., thus marks a reversion to the usual script of holding such meetings in remote areas easily walled off from the rest of the world--and far from anywhere accessible to large numbers of protesters.

Nevertheless, after the Camp David meeting, six of the eight heads of state will make their way to Chicago in order to attend the NATO summit.

THE SAME week that the change of venue for the G8 was announced, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011, which expands on existing federal law to make it a felony to enter into or remain in an area deemed "restricted" by security officials.

The bill sailed through the Senate unanimously, and in the House, the only three "no" votes were cast by Republicans.

The message couldn't be clearer: Democrats and Republicans alike will go to any lengths to ensure that institutions which act as enforcers for the global 1 percent can meet without fear of disruption--regardless of the free speech rights of the 99 percent.

But this won't stop activists--in Chicago, across the country and around the world--from standing shoulder to shoulder to raise their voices against the NATO/G8 agenda of war and austerity.