In May the City of Chicago will be hosting the G8/NATO Summit. This will be the first time in 30 years that any city has hosted both meetings. This will be the 38th G8 Summit and will be held at McCormick Place on May 20-21. The G8 was created in 1975 as the G7 consisting of: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The first meeting was held in 1977. Russia was later added to make it the G8. Today other emerging nations are invited: Brazil, China, New Mexico and others. They discuss global issues: security, economy, environment, and trade, NATO was created in 1949 after WW II. It includes the U.S. and 27 other countries. The summits are expected to attract over 2000 dignitaries from around the globe. On top of the summit the National Restaurant Association is scheduled to hold its annual trade show in Chicago, May 19-22, at McCormick Place... The NRA draws over 50,000 visitors and brought in an estimated $110 Million in 2004.The NRA has been coming to Chicago since 1950.
Chicago was selected as the site by President Obama after extensive lobbying by Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. Chicago offers 2 airports, great hotels, fine restaurants, transportation, entertainment and other amenities. The Summit will be hosted by President Obama. The Summit provides great economic opportunities for Chicago businesses. It is estimated that 10,000 hotel rooms will be booked for the event. Over 2000 journalist will come to cover the summit. The downside is that the summit also attracts protestors from around the world. Adbuster a radical Vancouver based anti consumerist magazine has called for 50,000 protestors to come to Chicago. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has already applied for protest permits. .Historically the summits have created violence in the form of broken windows, turned over cars, in London they wanted to bomb the subways. The riots of 1968 may look like child’s play compared to the planned summit. To counter any threats, the Chicago Police and Fire Departments have been preparing for months. They will be aided by Secret Service and foreign agents traveling with the foreign leaders. This will be an extremely difficult security challenge.
Normally these summits are held in remote locations. The City of Chicago may be disrupted for more than a week... Roads will be closed to provide security for the dignitaries... The Daley Center and McCormick Place can expect large numbers of protestors. It’s hard to predict what will happen at City Hall, the Federal Buildings and Thompson Center. Local businesses were asked to hire more security to protect their properties. The potential for violence is extremely high. The use of modern technology such as cell phones, ipads, and laptops increase communications for the protestors to converge more easily upon areas.
The media coverage will be enormous. If there is trouble the responsible groups and sponsors should be exposed and dealt with quickly. We know the City will protect the 1st Amendment Rights of everyone, citizens as well as protestors... The question is: how well can they maintain law and order? Because of the potential for trouble many people are planning to leave the city. If you work in downtown Chicago, what plans are you making? What do you think of the President and Mayor’s decision to host the summits? The final outcome, good or bad, will rest upon the shoulders of the President and Chicago’s Mayor. It was their decision. We can expect the worse, but let’s hope and pray for the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment