I never thought that watching summits could be nauseating but it was, thanks to the U.S. and British media which focused on the "Obamarama" and frenzied over Michelle touching the Queen of England. Then, there were the tedious analyses about the President sneezing during a press conference, the Queen flirting with him, and the comparison between Michelle and Jackie Kennedy (amongst other juicy stories), giving the infamous tabloids of London enough material for several weeks.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama called the G-20 summit in London a "turning point" in the effort to reverse the global economic meltdown and praised the nations' joint efforts as a historic step on the road to stability.
"I think we did OK," Obama said. "The document that has been produced, as well as the concrete actions that will follow, reflect a range of our priorities. ... Overall, I'm pleased."
Now, the Treasury Department can print more money, and we can all forget about the global crisis. The demonstrators in London, labeled "anarchists" by several media pundits and kept at bay from where the world leaders were meeting, can all go home and eat cake.
This was not the only summit that was full of drama; more agonizing than watching the G-20 summit was keeping tabs on the Arab League's summit in Doha.
There were no queens to gossip about there; however, there was one drama queen, the Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi.
The "brother leader," as he likes to be addressed, stormed out of the summit after denouncing the Saudi king and declaring himself "the Dean of Arab rulers". The Libyan leader disrupted the opening of the summit by taking a microphone and criticizing King Abdullah, calling him a "British product and American ally". When the Qatari Emir tried to quiet him, Qaddafi, the current African Union chairman, insisted he be allowed to speak, saying, "I am an international leader, the Dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the Imam (leader] of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level".
Later, Qatar's Emir brought the Colonel and the King together for a reconciliation meeting. They kissed and made up for the time being.
Meanwhile, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is a no-show two summits in a row, without any official explanation. Jordan's King Abdullah reportedly went home early because he was upset that he wasn't met by the Emir of Qatar at the airport, and Sudan's al Bashir, who defied an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague by flying to Qatar, received overwhelming support by the attendees.
Next year's summit is scheduled to be held in Tripoli, Libya. That should be entertaining.
Jamal Dajani produces the Mosaic Intelligence Report on Link TV.