Summit meeting

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A summit meeting (also summit conference or “summit” for short) is a conference of leading politicians .

While the word initially usually referred to relatively short meetings of only two to four statesmen (e.g. Yalta conference in Yalta 1945, summit Kennedy-Khrushchev in Vienna 1961), it is now also used for larger conferences of heads of government . Summit meetings are not, however, an invention of the 20th century, but can be traced back to ancient times as a means of politics. For the premodern they are usually referred to in German as meeting of rulers .

In addition to one-off conferences, there are increasingly international forums and institutions in which high-ranking politicians meet on a regular basis. These include the annual meetings of the G8 or G20 countries , the quarterly meetings of the European Council (the heads of state and government of the European Union ), or the meetings of intergovernmental organizations such as the Arab League , OAS , OPEC or APEC .

Most of the participants follow a previously negotiated diplomatic protocol , but especially at the larger meetings of top politicians there is room for encounters “at the highest political level”, often also events “on the edge of the summit” which deal with current disputes between states, or brief discussions between the states Heads of government (with the accompanying interpreters and diplomats), with whom these conflicts can be defused or misunderstandings can be cleared up. Diplomatic incidents are sometimes provoked as a symbolic exaggeration of the conflicts between two cultures, but can of course - viewed in a historical context - contribute to reconciliation between states or even achieve cult status, such as the remarks made by Hugo Chávez at the Ibero America summit in 2007 . Summits with media attention are usually accompanied by side events by foundations or political organizations in addition to the main conference; The civil society of some states tries to get in touch with the heads of government and also to influence their politics, environmentalists organize protest actions, human rights activists draw the politicians' attention to grievances.

Sometimes it also refers to meetings of other global decision-makers (e.g. from business) or a collaboration between well-known artists.

Fundamental critics of a summit meeting or the politicians who meet there and their politics often hold a counter-summit (also alternative summit ), usually near the summit meeting location, in order to use the existing attention of the media and the public to disseminate their criticism and to discuss and to network .