AS world leaders began a two-day meeting at the French resort of Deauville yesterday, their agenda was well-spelt out: Issues of revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya and the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in stabilising these nations' democracies.
The leaders at the summit of the Group-of-Eight G-8 bloc of wealthy nations are discussing how to end the seemingly deadlocked Libya conflict, and their response to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.
Recent events such as uprisings in the Arab world and Japan's nuclear crisis have given the G-8 a new sense of purpose.
Also on the agenda is how little or how much the Internet should be regulated. Internet bosses - including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google boss Eric Schmidt - are attending the two-day summit in Normandy.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the global economy and climate change will also be discussed at the gathering for the leaders of the U.S., Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.
As the summit opened, the French and Russian leaders met to agree on the sale of four French-built Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia at a cost of at least 400 million euros each (£350 million; $565 million).
The elements of the deal had been agreed and "the signature will take place within a fortnight", French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
The deal - Russia's biggest foreign arms purchase since the fall of the Soviet Union - has caused consternation among some of Russia's neighbours and some of France's NATO allies.
Thousands of police have been deployed as part of a huge security operation and checkpoints have been erected on all roads leading to Deauville.
In drizzling rain, President Sarkozy welcomed his guests to the coastal casino resort as the republican guard's band played.
His wife, First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is hosting the leaders' spouses in her first G-8 summit since her pregnancy was revealed.
United States President Barack Obama headed to the meeting having completed his state visit to the United Kingdom.
He will hold one-on-one meetings on the summit sidelines with President Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Debate is expected at the summit on ways of improving global nuclear safety after the breakdown of Japan's Fukushima power plant following March's earthquake and tsunami.
The G-8 also offers the leaders their first real opportunity to debate the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.
Interim Prime Ministers from Tunisia and Egypt - where long-time leaders were overthrown this year - and the head of the Arab League will also be at Deauville for talks on a massive aid plan to help their transition to democracy.
Representatives from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are due to spell out for G-8 leaders what it would take to stabilise the Tunisian and Egyptian economies.
Despite President Obama's appeal in London on Wednesday for democratic unity and leadership, there may well be friction at the summit.
Russia's president - one of the first to arrive - has opposed air strikes on Libya from the start, though he may offer to mediate in that conflict.
Africa will also be represented at the summit, as it has been since 2003. Newly-elected leaders from Cote d'Ivoire, Niger and Guinea are expected to participate in sessions about promoting democracy.
Source: Arab, IMF issues dominate G-8 summit agenda (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49399:arab-imf-issues-dominate-g-8-summit-agenda-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)