Viewing the Summit

This weekend was the annual G20 Summit. The most powerful leaders met in Hamburg, Germany, to discuss major issues. On the docket this year were topics such as sustainable development, The migrant crisis, women's rights and empowerment, and counter-terrorism, just to name a few. However, this summit was an interesting one. There were a few issues facing this summit, and I will be covering them. I will not include the protests, as these are commonplace at G20 Events, especially in nations whose citizens have the right of Free Speech.

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1) Ballot Interference?

There were some awkward situations in this summit. A lot of them centered around U.S President Donald J. Trump. The first issue was with America's economic and political rival, Russia. President Trump met with long time Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday, July 8th, to discuss Russo-American relations. One of the major topics was the questions the American people have about Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S Presidential Election. Putin said that if the U.S had no evidence that Russia hacked the election, then they did not hack it. That was apparently enough for the Commander-in-Chief, but is it enough for the American public?

2) Will We Always have Paris?

One of Trumps most controversial moves as President of the United States is pulling the country out of the Paris agreement. This makes America the first nation to pull out of the ground breaking agreement, and only the third country to not agree to the Paris Accords. The other two: Syria and Nicaragua. Syria did not agree to it because they have bigger problems, and Nicaragua did not agree because they felt the agreement was not strict enough. This makes the U.S.A, once the front runner in scientific advancement, the only nation to officially deny climate change. This was proved when the summit voted 19-1 in favor of acknowledging climate change. The lone vote - The United States, of course. One thing that settled down protesters and summit members was a speech by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, saying that although the federal government pulled out of the agreement, individual cities and states are continuing to uphold the Paris agreement.