WASHINGTON — On the eve of a European mission that faces discord around the conference table and in the streets, President Bush on Tuesday offered his broadest assessment of the United States' global role and set a mandate for fighting poverty by promoting trade.
He proposed that the World Bank and other lending agencies assigned to aid the developing world "dramatically shift" the money they devote to the poorest nations from loans to grants that would not have to be repaid.
Specifically, he proposed that up to half of the $6 billion a year the bank lends the poorest countries be provided as grants for education, health, nutrition, water supply, sanitation "and other human needs."
The speech to the World Bank was the most focused look at foreign policy, international poverty and the responsibilities of wealthy nations that Bush has given as president. It reflected a recognition, often central to his predecessor's diplomacy, that trade holds the promise in the post-Cold War era of expanding democracy and wealth.
At the same time, he drew a line between himself and the vast number of protesters gathering in Genoa, Italy, to demonstrate against the weekend summit of the world's seven largest industrialized democracies and Russia, the focal point of the presidential trip that begins tonight in London and ends Tuesday in Kosovo.
Addressing the demonstrators' central complaint--that expanded trade threatens the world's poorest--Bush said: "They seek to shut down meetings because they want to shut down free trade. I respect the right to peaceful expression, but make no mistake--those who protest free trade are no friends of the poor. Those who protest free trade seek to deny them their best hope for escaping poverty."
Echoing Pope John Paul II, with whom he will meet at the pontiff's summer residence, Bush said that "the great moral challenge" of the era is "placing the freedom of the market in the service of human freedom."
"Our willingness to recognize that with freedom comes great responsibility, especially for the least among us, may take the measure of the 21st century," Bush declared, setting a marker of U.S. policy before the protests begin.
"To all nations promoting democratic government and the rule of law so that trade and aid can succeed, you're not alone. To all nations tearing down the walls of suspicion and isolation, and building ties of trade and trust, you're not alone. And to all nations who are willing to stake their future on the global progress of liberty, you will never be alone," the president said.
