A Missed Opportunity for Even Greater Influence

Robert B. Zoellick

Robert B. Zoellick was lead U.S. negotiator in the Two-plus-Four process of German unification. He served as U.S. trade representative and U.S. deputy secretary of state during Republican administrations, as well as president of the World Bank. He is a former AICGS Trustee.

Of the U.S.’ trade policy and trade relationships over the past twenty-five years, Robert Zoellick, former World Bank president, U.S. Trade Representative, deputy Secretary of State, and AGI Trustee, writes in the New York Times that “Today’s new conventional wisdom is that trade is bad politics. But the fall of the Soviet Union showed that U.S. security requires economic policies that encourage America’s private sector dynamism as well as military means. The economic and strategic potential of the U.S. to shape the future world order through a strong global trade policy may be an opportunity lost.”  Read the full article in The New York Times.