The historic Adriatic port of Trieste was an appropriate backdrop for Tuesday's meeting between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was held as Rome prepares to head the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial states, according to dpa. Once a flourishing city lying at the intersection of pre-First World War political life, Trieste suffered a rather sharp decline in its fortunes following the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the shift in the international balance of power. Now a similar fate could be facing the G8 with the group in danger of being eclipsed by the growing clout of the world's leading emerging nations and the prospects of the broader-based Group of 20 (G20) carving out a more active role in the deliberations on key economic questions.
