U.S. Trade And Aid Boosts Liberty
Trade, says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is a key component in the U.S. policy of expanding freedom around the world:
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says America foreign policy is aimed at expanding "the circle of well-governed states that enshrine liberty under the rule of law, that provide for their people, and that act responsibly in the international system": "America cannot do this for other countries. Nor should we. It must be their choice, and their initiative. But we can help and we must help. This is partnership, not paternalism.... In today's world, we are led, both by our interests and our ideals, to the following conviction: that liberty and justice within states leads to peace and stability between states. Freedom is not an abstract principle. It is the most practical way for states to organize themselves successfully, to adapt to change, and to grow economically." Trade, says Ms. Rice, is a key component in the U.S. policy of expanding freedom around the world: "Trade is an engine not only of economic growth, but also of political transformation. Integrating into the global economy helps to open closed societies. It helps new democracies to deliver on the high hopes of their people. And it gives governments a stake in the international system. This is how we should view the trade agreements now before [the U.S.] Congress - for Peru, Panama, Colombia, and Korea. Asia is changing dramatically. New despots in Latin America want to drag the region back into authoritarianism. Our free trade agreements will help key allies to become democratic anchors of regional and global stability." Another key element, says Secretary of State Rice, is assistance to developing nations: "As a result, with the full support of Congress, President Bush has launched the largest international development agenda since the Marshall Plan. In the past six years, we have nearly tripled our foreign assistance worldwide, quadrupled it for sub-Saharan Africa - providing food to the hungry, medicine to the sick, and giving girls and boys of every race and religion, class and culture, their first experience in a classroom." U.S. aid to sub-Saharan Africa includes a more than one-billion-dollar initiative to fight malaria and a thirty-billion-dollar U.S. contribution to the global fight against AIDS. "In a world where some of the greatest challenges we face emerge within states and not between them," says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "global development is both a moral ideal and a national interest."