Yes. Bill Clinton understood sooner, better, and more profoundly than many other leaders that globalization was not simply a trendy buzzword, noting that: "Everything from the strength of our economy, to the safety of our cities, to the health of our people depends on events not only within our border but half a world away."

Clinton’s tenure has coincided with a historic convergence of technological and political trends (the Internet, democratization, open markets, and porous borders) that facilitated an unprecedented level of global integration. Not content to let the United States be carried along by the currents and tides of globalization, Clinton sought to accelerate and harness these forces and mitigate their volatility. He led intense efforts to lower trade and investment barriers — completing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, concluding the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), supporting the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and urging Congress to pass the African Growth and Opportunity Act. As AIDS and other infectious diseases spread throughout developing nations, the White House pressed the World Bank and industrialized countries to increase public health funding. As open markets accelerated not only cross-border investments but also cross-border crime, Clinton pushed for initiatives to combat international money laundering because it fosters corruption and market instability. The White House also made the environment a high priority, creating a new under secretary for global affairs at the State Department and better integrating environmental issues into its foreign-policy planning.

But Clinton often embraced short-term tactics that undermined his long-term global vision. Rather than rebuke antiglobalization protestors at the Seattle WTO negotiations and make the case for further trade liberalization, Clinton tried to appease domestic constituencies by calling for strengthened labor standards, possibly enforced by trade sanctions. His earlier support for regional trade arrangements such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum faded with his political failure to secure fast-track trade negotiating authority from Congress. And even as the White House sponsored a record number of trade agreements, it also rubber-stamped a record number of sanctions, including controversial "secondary sanctions," which punish foreign companies that do business with Iran, Libya, and Cuba.