Ex-Secretary of State slams Bush diplomacy

George Bush has led one of America’s “worst presidencies” and there has never been “such a mess” internationally, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.

Ms Albright, who served under Bill Clinton, said the next president would have to do better and embrace a global view of climate change.

She made her comments at a signing to launch her new book, 'Memo To The President Elect: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation And Leadership', in Washington DC.

Speaking in the city’s Georgetown district, she said: “I think the judgment is that this is one of the worst presidencies we’ve had and people will wonder what it is that the role of the vice president is.”

She said global warming, climate change and energy were the “final big set of issues” to deal with.

“Now if you look at those issues, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that they are the kind of issues that require international cooperation, which means the next president has to have a different style – has to have the capability of dealing with other countries and being interested actually, in what their national interest is and in listening,” she said.

“There are people who come to my office and say, ’We have to stop globalisation’.

“You can’t stop globalisation, but I think we have to figure out how to mitigate the worst aspects of it and the problems that have been created and I think one of the worst is that there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor.”

She went on: “If we were all rich, that would be very nice.

“If we were all poor, it would be too bad, but we would be the same.

“What the problem is now is the poor know what the rich have as a result of information technology and the spread, generally, of knowledge. And, it creates a whole new host of problems in terms of disquiet and anger.”

Earlier this week, Ms Albright told NBC’s 'Today' show that, “internationally I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a mess”.