The first day the Group of Eight (G8) leaders gathered for their June 8-10 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, three protesters walked down the streets of Savannah carrying a sign that said, "Say no to pigeons!"

"Pigeons have more rights in Savannah than we do," Antonio Burks said, referring to the extensive G8 security measures. "I can't even go in the street where I work because of the police - but the pigeons can!"

A helicopter circled above the three protesters. Cop cars and Humvees passed by regularly, and a group of heavily armed police stood nearby in case things got out of hand. Between the over time pay, gas money, surveillance equipment, bottled water, donuts and other expenses needed for the security officials, "containing" these three protesters was probably costing American tax payers hundreds of dollars a minute.

For months, the media had been saying that a million brick-throwing, window-smashing, fire-breathing anarchists would be showing up for the G8 Summit. Consequently, many businesses shut down for the week, other citizens boarded up their stores and homes and some people left town entirely. Citing the possibility of violence from protesters or terrorists, police mobilized 25,000 security officials and spent $25 million in federal funds for G8 security efforts. Yet when the biggest G8 protest included no more than 250 activists, locals weren't talking about the violence between police and protesters; they were talking about why hardly any activists showed up.

Here are a few likely reasons why these cities turned into police states without dissidents:

Activist organizers ran into strong resistance from local governments and police when trying to obtain permits and locations for their events. Organizers in Brunswick, a city near Sea Island, applied for permits to march and gather months in advance, but were not issued anything until days before the Summit began.

Lee Sheckley, a member of the National Lawyer's Guild involved with the G8 activist events, explained, "I think many more people would be here if we had been able to establish a venue five months ago, and had time to organize. Instead, the organizers who usually advertise and educate and do things that would get people here have had to fight for the right to assemble."

Organizers argued that such crackdowns on G8 activism were part of the same police model used at the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protest in Miami, Florida in November 2003. In Miami, police stopped protests before they started by waiting months to issue permits, mobilizing excessive amounts of security officials and preemptively arresting hundreds of activists. Similar tactics are already being used to throw a monkey wrench into activist plans for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

With the streets of Savannah and Brunswick largely devoid of activists, it appeared as though the preemptive strategies by the police were highly successful. Yet there were other reasons why such a small amount of protesters showed up for the G8.

The activist organizers split up their events between Savannah and Brunswick. This division of activities between the two cities made it difficult to coordinate efforts and consolidate the numbers of protesters. Both cities had forums, marches and concerts scheduled for the entire week, but they were seventy miles away from each other.

Also, because of the Summit's isolated location in southeast Georgia, it was difficult for many people to travel to the protests, especially if they needed to get time off work in the middle of the week.

Many activists may have also decided to save their time and money to travel to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions instead, where numbers of protesters are expected to be huge. Yet the activist turnout at the G8 proves that it is sometimes difficult to know what to expect.

The G8 Summits began in 1975 and currently include leaders from the United States, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Russia and this year's president of the European Union, from Ireland. The Summits take place annually to organize efforts around issues such as the war on drugs, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and international trade. This year's meeting was dominated by discussions of the conflicts in the Middle East, the war on terror and global economic growth.

Though the G8 activist events were somewhat overshadowed by the enormous police presence and small protester turnout, they were successful in promoting alternative visions of a more equitable and peaceful world. Many activists gathered to protest the centralization of power and wealth that they believe the G8 represent. Carol Bass, an organizer for the Fair World Fair in Brunswick, spoke of her reasons for protesting the Summit. "We have representatives of less than fifteen percent of the world's population making decisions that affect billions and billions of people. This is about disproportional representation in government."

Alternative events were coordinated to draw media attention towards issues activists felt were being overlooked at the gathering of world leaders. Marches, forums and film screenings focused on promoting peace in Iraq, developing alternative forms of energy and creating systems of fair trade over free trade.

In some cases, the low turnout made crowds of activists seem more approachable to local residents. In areas of Georgia that don't often see demonstrations, interactions with protesters led many locals to see through the stereotypes created by the media. Bob Kunst, an activist that has been to seven G8 protests, said. "When you see local people that are saying 'hey this isn't what we heard in the media reports', they'll have a different opinion that they'll start spreading on their own level."

Kunst believed that regardless of the low turnout, the activist events in Georgia were a success. He commented, only half-jokingly, that at some of the G8 protests the reporters outnumbered the activists. "Any time you get people together to make any statement on any kind of level and you get that much media attention, it's always a victory."

--Benjamin Dangl is the editor of UpsideDownWorld.org, an online magazine about activism and politics.