Originally designed as a steering committee for the global economy, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations has become something of a club of rich, ideologically aligned countries as other nations have surged into positions of economic prominence. Once dismissed as mere photo opportunities, the annual G7 summit has become a bellwether that signals the group’s coherence and capacity to address key issues of concern.

A convergence of perspectives, once largely assumed, has become increasingly suspect since Donald Trump became U.S. president. He delights in shattering the decorum that has marked those gatherings and has shown no compunction about walking out, irritated by the inability to prevail in every discussion. The meetings have been reduced to something of a reality show — will he or won’t he? — with the host doing whatever possible to placate the mercurial U.S. president.

This year’s meeting was of a piece, dominated by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, ostensibly ending their war. Oblivious to the symbolism, Trump put pen to paper in the gilded halls of Versailles and spent much of the time with the press defending the agreement, which he called “historic.”