On eve of summit, G-8's relevance is unclear

And the question on many minds is whether the Group of 8 leaders will be able to do anything about it.

"This is going to be one of those events that shift people's thinking about the world," said Tim Condon, chief Asia economist for ING Financial Markets in Singapore.

For the G-8 and other groups led by traditional Western powers, he said, "their relative position is shrinking to the rest of the world. . . . The relevance of this meeting is questionable. It's not clear what they can do."

Shi Yinghong, director of American Studies at People's University in Beijing, said, "Honestly, there's no one who can give a global solution. Many countries don't even have a solution for their own domestic problems."

Even G-8 members have downplayed expectations of breakthroughs or agreements on major issues.

For President Bush, this G-8 summit will be the last. In a briefing last week, administration officials indicated that the president would seek to enhance G-8 accountability and ensure that past commitments are met, including programs for fighting malaria, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. He probably also will push for policies supporting open markets and international trade.

But the American position has been weakened by its own faltering policies that many blame for the global economic malaise, particularly credit troubles after the blowup of the subprime mortgage industry.

Even as many analysts have lowered expectations for the summit, which starts Monday, protesters were mobilizing Saturday on the northern island of Hokkaido, where the leaders will meet for three days.

About 21,000 police officers have sealed off the area, and Japanese immigration officers were reported to have barred some South Korean farmers who were planning to take part in demonstrations.

Protests at such international meetings have become routine, but the tensions at this year's summit reflect what some view as the worst economic global state since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

At the G-8 summit last year in Germany, officials declared the world economy to be in "good condition." But since then, companies, and consumers in particular, have faced hard times amid rising inflation, triggering rioting in some countries.