With the upcoming NATO/G8 summit looming over Chicago, it’s time to present the historical background and context for both of these organizations and why they are meeting in Chicago this spring. As two of the central bodies pursuing the interests of the global 1 percent, understanding how and when they were formed and for what purpose is essential to making sense of why the Occupy movement should resist them. It’s also essential to understanding why Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other city officials are willing to spend millions of taxpayer dollars, shred essential civil liberties and lock down the city center to accommodate the 10,000 or so diplomats, policymakers and media teams that will descend on the city. This teach-in will cover a short history of both NATO and G8, what they’ve done and do in the world, and how their decisions—made by largely unaccountable and unelected people at big summits—shape the lives of the global 99 percent. The immense resources they’ve commanded throughout the last several decades have largely created the world we now inhabit, and understanding these processes—both economic and political—is the main objective of this meeting.