Farm subsidies are the single biggest thing 1st world countries do that actively keep the 3rd world down.  Call me an idealist, but I firmly believe that if we could simply remove them, the natural progression of economic incentives percolating through the system would do more than almost anything else to create peace.  'Tis far better to incent individuals to "buy-in" into the global economic system via the promise of improving your family's life than doing anything via the point of a gun. 

Now obviously, this theory does NOT have universal & immediate applicability, it's safe to say that Al Qaeda won't be beating their swords into plowshares once US sugar subsidies drop.  But, in the very long run, it could help dry up their recruiting swamp in at least a few of their nations.   Afterall, there are few "industries" in which the 3rd world has a fighting chance as farming.  

So, if you *really* want to make life better for the 3rd world, it's going to be via victories like this -

...last week's talks in Geneva were a great success. Negotiators from 147 countries did what they had failed to do in Cancun two years ago: They agreed on the broad principles that might govern another round of trade liberalization. The most significant achievement was to promise an end to subsidies for agricultural exports, which rich countries (particularly the European Union) use to compete unfairly with producers from poor ones

...the agricultural focus of the current round of trade talks marks an improvement on previous rounds. It is a scandal that rich countries spend about $300 billion a year on farm subsidies, suffocating producers in poor countries hoping to export their way out of poverty

...President Bush's trade representative, Robert B. Zoellick, deserves credit for getting trade liberalization talks back on track, despite the political pressures of an election year marked on the Democratic side by disturbing protectionist rhetoric.

Of course, no international drama is complete without at least one instance of deplorable unilateralism -

Europe's isolation on agricultural subsidies had reached a critical mass and the G-20, now backed to some degree by the United States, had considerable weight in the negotiations. Europeans, concerned about losing their global geopolitical clout and being blamed for the trade round's failure were under considerable pressure to make concessions. That backdrop allowed the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, to sideline France's opposition to meaningful reductions in farm subsidies.

These factors allowed strategic logic to prevail over short-term political considerations (mostly France's).

Given that our "historical allies" were all aligned against us & the progressively tougher protectionist rhetoric coming from the Democrat's camp, which side of this issue would Kerry have come down on?

I must also admit that I'm very positively surprised by the Bush Administration here.   Late last year, I predicted that Bush would never aggressively attack farm subsidies because it's such a lightning rod issue in the crucial red states.   Pushing family farms off the security of the government dole into the ravages of the global market is rather anti-rent-seeking behavior.   I'm very glad to see that I was wrong.

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UPDATE - Marginal Revolution throws some cold water on my cheerleading -

Remember that old saying, something like "Things are never as bad, or as good, as they seem." It applies to international trade as well.

Numerous reports suggest that the WTO has achieved a breakthrough. The core deal appears to suggest that many poor countries will lower their tariffs on manufactured goods and the rich countries will limit or eliminate export subsidies and protection for agriculture. But there is more here than meets the eye.

The first worry is an obvious one. There is no date given for the change in agricultural policies.

I'm still impressed that a timetable towards removing subsidies is even on the table - given the previous 3-4 decades of complete non-progress or even anti-progress on subsidies, this is still a pretty big deal.

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