Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the U.S. will engage with Burma’s military government, while also maintaining sanctions imposed on account of the junta’s human rights abuses. Burma’s pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi expresses her support for the new U.S. policy.

Heads of state from the Group of 20 gather in Pittsburgh tonight. Three main issues are on the table: “rebalancing” the world economy, meaning that debtors like the U.S. should save more, while exporters like China should consume more; tightening financial regulation around the world; and allowing poorer countries more representation at the International Monetary Fund.

The largest-ever discovery of Anglo-Saxon treasures is uncovered by an amateur in a field in Staffordshire, England. The collection of nearly 1,500 gold and silver pieces will “alter our perception of Anglo-Saxon England,” says Leslie Webster, former curator of Anglo-Saxon archaeology at the British Museum.

Photo Credit: www.kremlin.ru

Buzzwords appears each Friday on the Wide Angle blog and breaks down the lingo, jargon and hot topics of the world’s headlines.

Erin Chapman

As the Obamas delivered newfangled gifts to Queen Elizabeth, the G-20 finance ministers and heads of state were sharpening their claws in preparation for a spending vs. regulation cat fight. Quoth Sarkozy, “Miaou.” Now that all the fuss seems to have simmered into a compromise to spend $1 trillion and impose stricter regulation measures, we’re all left to ponder — who exactly is the G-20, again? Are they related to the G-7? And what’s with the G-8?

The G-20 (or Group of Twenty) was established in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors of important industrialized and developing economies to discuss hot topics in global economic policy. It was created as a response to the financial crises of the late ’90s and a realization that key emerging markets needed to be included in decision-making. Like any new endeavor, there were a few false starts, with a G-22 conference and a G-33 conference. Even “G-20″ is a bit misleading in its name (economists fudging the numbers — surprise, surprise). The G-20 actually consists of 19 member countries and one representative from the European Union, as well as power players from the IMF and the World Bank. The nations are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. The countries were selected on the basis of their significance for the international financial system — as well as geographic location and population representation — and the member countries have remained the same since the G-20’s inception.

This year, the chairmanship is held by the U.K.; South Korea takes over in 2010. With no permanent staff, it is the chair’s responsibility to establish a pro tem team to organize the summits. Continuity between meetings is maintained by a managing body called the Troika, made up of the past, present and future chairs — who no doubt go on to teach Ebeneezer Scrooge a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas. Normally, the G-20 meets annually to consider policy challenges and options. In the increasingly grim global economic climate, country leaders have now joined their financial policy wonks on two occasions in the past 6 months.

While the G-20 incorporates developing economies, the G-7 is a forum of only industrial economic powers: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The G-8 consists of the heads of state of the G-7 nations, as well as Russia. Macroeconomics is always on their plate, but in recent years the discussions have expanded to incorporate issues like energy and terrorism.

Enough G’s for you? I suppose we’ll leave the G-5, G-10, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-30 and G-77 for some other Friday….

(Sources: Christian Science Monitor, G20.org, University of Toronto G8 Information Centre)

Yesterday, on a gray rainy New York afternoon, Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum hosted the prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his first public speech in the United States outside of the United Nations Security Council.

Security was tight, complete with metal detecting wands and bomb-sniffing dogs, as the 200-plus faculty and students filed into the packed venue. A motorcade of black SUVs with blaring sirens and flashing lights dropped off the guest of honor and some twenty other Turkish dignitaries.

The instant Prime Minister Erdogan appeared at the podium, flanked by secret police, a Kurdish activist student unfurled a handwritten banner reading “Turkey Out of Kurdistan” – and was promptly escorted out of the room by Columbia security. This small incident averted, Erdogan commenced his keynote address in Turkish, with a simultaneous interpreter translating into audience headsets.

In his opening remarks, Erdogan congratulated President-elect Barack Obama for his election victory, and expressed confidence in U.S.-Turkey solidarity under an Obama administration. “Leaders may change, governments may come and go, but relations between our countries will continue,” the Prime Minister affirmed.

He then turned to discussion of the global financial crisis – the reason for his present visit to America being this week’s G-20 meeting in Washington. Evoking the gravity of the present crisis with a stark image of global interdependency and the necessity for multilateral solutions, he said: “All countries are passengers on the same ship… If we sink, we will all go down together.”

Erdogan called upon the G-20 leaders to also turn their attentions to other “ticking timebombs” around the world that are at the top of Turkey’s foreign policy agenda: the unsettled border disputes between Turkey’s neighbors Russia and Georgia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan; achieving stability in Iraq, which the Prime Minister predicted could take “up to 10, 20, or even 30 years”; resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and preventing Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction. Although critical of Iran’s nuclear program, Erdogan also pointed to the hypocrisy of America’s policies: “Nuclear weapons are being harbored in many countries,” he said. “Taking a stand against one country and forcing them to disarm is not an honest approach…. It needs to be across the board. Let’s eradicate these weapons once and for all.”

The speech comes just days after Erdogan officially volunteered to serve as mediator between Iran and the United States, in the aftermath of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s letter to Barack Obama. As both a member of NATO and a Muslim country, Turkey sees itself as uniquely placed to act as a bridge between the West and the Middle East.

Elaborating on this theme, Erdogan expressed continued ambition to join the European Union, and dismay that Turkey has yet to be accepted as a member state: “We are doing our homework and are further along than many of the 27 member countries.” Turkey has been working toward E.U. membership for over four decades, but is the first Muslim nation under consideration. Ending on a more upbeat note, the Prime Minister rejoiced that Turkey has been accepted to serve as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2009 and 2010 – the first time in the U.N.’s 47-year history.

Erdogan concluded poetically: “We want to make new friends rather than enemies, and be a pro-active agent of peace…. We want to be a country that harvests not hatred but rather harvests, and therefore reaps, love.”

As the motorcade pulled away, audience members were overwhelmingly heartened by Erdogan’s message of peace and harmony, and his vision of Turkey’s growing role on the international stage. But a few skeptics pointed to a bumpy road ahead given the country’s position as a secular yet pious society, caught between the West and Islam.

WIDE ANGLE’s Turkey’s Tigers reported on the tensions between Islam and Western-style capitalism in Turkish business circles.