France -- Yes. The G-8 members other than Russia should express interest in the counter-summit by sending observers and publicizing the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) that are trying to keep up their work despite official pressures. Putin needs the G-8 summit, so it's a good opportunity for Western partners to use a degree of leverage, which they have previously proved unable to agree upon.

Paris, France -- The world is watching soccer - the most vociferous display of jingoism today, and not an outlet for it, either. FIFA may be good at organizing games, but it is also suspected to be expert at milking them for money. For all its flaws and shortcomings, wasn't the UN meant precisely to fight against such plagues?

Paris, France -- If every election in countries where there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor is labeled as a choice between "populism" and "markets", democracy is bound to fail. Only by promoting policies to improve the fate of the poor and encouraging the private sector to create jobs and wealth can Mexico develop - and find its own remedies to the illegal labour exodus to the U.S.