The British clearly do not understand that the prime purpose of economic summit sessions is for the world leaders to show off for the folks back home.

Until last week, American officials had privately worked to undermine the results of previous summit sessions because their practical effect appeared limited to dismantling the contras.

Reporters were able to eat round the clock at the George Brown Convention Center, the press's headquarters for the summit session.

Is it too much to expect the sherpas preparing the floating summit session to suggest a way to improve the atmosphere beforehand?

Despite the addled Russian political scene, today's summit sessions proved to be more substantive than many observers had predicted.

The summit session had originally been planned for Copenhagen.

Last month senior American officials passed the word to journalists that the summit session might be held in June.

The two leaders are scheduled to begin the first of their five summit sessions Sunday.

He was asked on his way out of the White House what he thought of a summit session given the situation in Lithuania.

But as soon as the next Soviet-American summit session passes in the spring, the leaders would do well to get down to these questions.