[4] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six in 1975.

[5] The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.

Some reports attribute resistance to the relatively smaller powers such as Canada and Japan, who are said to perceive a dilution of their global stature.

of those planning to protest the event took credit for the move; however, President Barack Obama denied that the decision was motivated by the demonstrations.

[10] Suggestions in the media indicated the move was to placate Russian President Vladimir Putin who said he would not attend a NATO summit in Chicago at the same time.

[citation needed] Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would not be attending the summit because he was "busy,"[2] amid concerns about the discord between Russia–United States relations.

[17] However, according to his economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich, Russia's participation would be "absolutely full-fledged" due to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's "huge experience working" at such events.

[5] Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants known informally as "sherpas".

"[28] The main topic of the G8 summit was the European sovereign debt crisis, particularly following the fall of talks to form a Greek government following an election.

[29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Obama told the press: "There is now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now in the context of these fiscal and structural reforms.

"[35] In its declaration the G8 agreed "that all of our governments need to take actions to boost confidence and nurture recovery including reforms to raise productivity, growth and demand within a sustainable, credible and non-inflationary macroeconomic framework.

Against this background, we commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognizing that the right measures are not the same for each of us.

"[30] The G8 states committed themselves to a New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition with African leaders and the private sector whose target it is to lift 50 million people from poverty within 10 years.

Adbusters, an organization that helped initiate Occupy Wall Street, had called for a mass occupation of Chicago starting on 1 May, before the venue was changed to the much less accessible Camp David.