by Colin Dennis

Created on: November 04, 2009

Michael Bloomberg's participation in foreign affairs began in earnest the year before the run-up to the 2008 Presidential elections. Then, there was speculation that Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, was trying to buttress his thin international credentials and improve his national profile in readiness for a run at the presidency. Bloomberg elected not to run in 2008.

Bloomberg made four trips to Mexico and also visited England, Ireland and Israel and has made policy statements on the environment, globalization and the financial turmoil. Officials said the mayor's trips to Mexico were designed to let Bloomberg examine Mexico's program, "Oportunidades,"which is designed to break the cycle of poverty and pays poor families when they meet Mexico's health, education and employment goals. Bloomberg used some of his own personal funds to help defray the cost of the pilot program Opportunity NYC -modeled on the Mexican program-, which was started in New York:

"The bottom line about Mexico's conditional cash transfer program is that it works and during this trip we want to study the details of what they are doing right, so our program in New York can also succeed," Bloomberg said.

In an article in the December 11, 2007 Financial Times entitled "Resist Protectionism," Bloomberg said that taking a protectionist stance would be costly to the United States:

"It is easy to say that times have changed and take a more protectionist viewpoint," Bloomberg said. "In fact, times have changed. Dramatic advances in technology and increased global trade are creating enormous economic opportunities, but also challenges. If America is to remain the world's economic superpower, it must capitalize on the opportunities and confront the challenges. Countries that run away from globalization will pay a heavy price for decades to come."

On April 8, 2008 Bloomberg headlined Newsweek's Second Annual Global Environmental Leadership conference at Georgetown University. The mayor opined that going green would be good for the American economy:

"Now for far too long, environmentalism has gotten pitted against economic development," he said. "But that's a myth that ought to be laid to rest."

In September 2008 Bloomberg went to London to participate in a roundtable conference with officials from the City of London and senior executives from Europe's business sector to discuss the turmoil in financial markets:

"This is a turbulent time in the global economy, and no two cities have more at stake in restoring stability than New York and London," Mayor Bloomberg said in a press release. "I look forward to meeting with financial executives and government officials to share insights and discuss how our two cities can work collaboratively to strengthen our positions as the world's leading financial capitals."

Bloomberg, a Jew, has also entered the Middle East Conflict: on a visit to Israel in January 2009, the mayor supported Israel's right to defend itself:

"I think I speak for an awful lot. Almost all Americans, who think that Israel is doing the right thing in defending itself," he was quoted in the New York Times.

Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat until he switched to the Republican Party in 2001. He quit the Republican Party in 2001 to become an Independent.

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