In the lead up to the July 15-17 G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, there was a lot of debate about the agenda. The host nation – Russia – called for a three-prong focus on energy security, education, and health issues afflicting Eurasia (primarily HIV/AIDS). The United States wanted to discuss the twin nuclear proliferation crises in and North Korea, the state of democracy in Russia and in Eurasia, and the war on terror. The European members (especially Germany) were anxious to hear Russia’s views on energy security, given their reliance on Russia natural gas.