A quarter of a century has passed since the world's seven industrialized democracies held their first summit meeting in 1975 under the initiative of French President Giscard d'Estaing. In its earlier years the G7 forum moved the world somewhat, providing a sense of unity and direction that was not available from the weakened United Nations and divided international organizations. This year's meeting — which includes Russia — will be held in Kyushu and Okinawa beginning July 21.

During global energy crises of the 1970s, G7 nations (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States) hammered out an agreement setting country-by-country quotas for oil imports and thus rolled back the offensive by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The G7 also showed determination in dealing with currency turmoil and with trade friction stemming from Japanese and German surpluses.

In the 1980s, G7 leaders supported the reform campaign initiated by the general secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and helped bring the Cold War to an end. In the 1990s, however, the pace-setting role of summitry diminished, as the forum was seen increasingly to be unwilling or unable to deal with new crises of the post-Cold War world, such as ethnic and religious conflicts. As pundits put it, the summit had become "ritualized" — long on rhetoric but short on substance.