As the Prime Minister of Australia from March 1996 until December 2007, the Honorable John Winston Howard served a distinctively Western role in the Asian-Pacific Rim. Mr. Howard approached his responsibilities from a global viewpoint, providing economic vision and security strategies that raised Australia's profile and impact around the world as well as improving economic stability at home.

During Mr. Howard’s tenure:

• Ten of the 12 annual budgets produced by the Howard government were in surplus and $96 billion of federal government debt was repaid.
• Economic growth averaged 3.6 percent per annum and the unemployment rate sank to a 33-year low of 4.3 percent.
• Extensive trade expansion with the nations of Asia created new markets, particularly the development of the relationship with China, which is now Australia’s largest export market.

John Micklethwait is one of the world’s foremost authorities on globalization—how it works and where it’s headed—and a leading proponent of its positive impact and potential.

He is the coauthor/coeditor of two books on globalization: A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Promise of Globalization and Globalisation: Making sense of an integrating world.

Mr. Micklethwait is also an expert on American business and culture, and on American politics and American foreign and defense policy. He was head of the magazine’s U.S. section from 1999 to 2006.

He is the coauthor, with Adrian Wooldridge, of The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America.

Mr. Micklethwait is currently editor-in-chief of The Economist, the world’s leading business and current affairs weekly.

He is a winner of the Wincott Award, Britain’s leading prize for financial journalism.

He has appeared on television and radio throughout the world and written op-ed articles for the world’s premier print news journals.

His book, The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea, was named one of the ten best books of 2003 by BusinessWeek.

(Image: © Philip Wolmuth)