A snapshot of a nation at the table, then.
Inevitably the Americans won, because they were the strongest nation at the table.
The move is likely to be controversial as the economies of many nations at the negotiating table heavily rely on coal, oil and gas.
The six nations at the negotiating table with Iran – the US, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain – hope to reach a deal limiting the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities for the next 10 years, in return for the lifting of US and UN sanctions.
The nations now represented at the table account for about 85 percent of global economic output.
"All these nations need a place at the table.
"Other nations looked at the dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner.
The Group of 8 has been overshadowed by the larger and more economically oriented Group of 20, in which fast-growing emerging nations like China, India, Brazil and South Africa also sit at the table, reflecting the shifting balance of power in the global economy.
For a noisy nation accustomed to a place at the table and having its voice heard, that could feel like a very un-splendid isolation.
As the largest whaling nation, it also needs to be at the table if the commission is to mean anything.
