The passing of a major figure on the world stage is felt at G-20 meeting.

WASHINGTON — The “new world order” George H.W. Bush proclaimed in 1990 during the collapse of the Soviet Union would be a place “free from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest for peace.”

A series of American presidents, including his eldest son, have struggled to fulfill that vision.

Nevertheless, the worldwide response to Bush’s death served to confirm his place as one of the leading statesmen of the 20th century.

His death hung over the G-20 meeting Saturday in Buenos Aires, attended by President Donald Trump and the leaders of Russia, China, Germany and Japan — current and past adversaries still sorting out their interlocking interests three decades after Bush helped broker the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany.

“He’s the father, or one of the fathers, of the German unification, and we will never forget that,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, standing beside Trump at a brief meeting with reporters.

Out of deference to Bush, the summit leaders put off a more formal news conference.

During his single term in office from 1989 to 1993, Bush was criticized at home for a faltering economy and rising budget deficits. But he won praise from abroad for the acumen and restraint he showed in handling the disintegration of the Iron Curtain and America’s emergence from the Cold War as the world’s lone superpower.

Although it was his predecessor, President Ronald Reagan, who famously called on Soviet leader Mi- khail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in Berlin, Bush was left to navigate the popular uprising that dismantled the wall.

Far from antagonizing his communist adversaries, Bush is credited with managing a peaceful transition to a world in which, as he put it, “nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak.”

Gorbachev recognized Bush’s negotiating skill in a statement Saturday, recalling a fraught period marked by fear of both terrorism and nuclear annihilation.

“We had a chance to work together during the years of tremendous changes. It was a dramatic time that de- manded great responsibility from everyone,” Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency. “The result was an end to the Cold War and the nuclear arms race.”

Bush’s foreign policy legacy was fashioned not only in the Oval Office but also as a CIA director and vice president for eight years under Reagan.

U.S. allies also recalled Bush’s role in the defining struggle of his generation: World War II.

“Throughout his life he dedicated himself to his country and to the fight for freedom,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. “From becoming the youngest Navy pilot in history during the Second World War, to his ambassadorial roles at the United Nations or China, he always served his country with honor, bravery and dignity. This also defined his presidency that came at a time of enormous change and instability across the world.”

Bush, a former oil man, developed deep ties in the Middle East. As commander-in-chief, he presided over a 100-hour war in 1991, “Operation Desert Storm,” that expelled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait.

Some criticized it as a par- tial victory, because it left Saddam in power. Bush rejected demands that he send U.S. forces into Iraq to depose a weakened Saddam.

Many said the wisdom of Bush’s approach was underscored in 2003, when his son, President George W. Bush, ordered an invasion of Iraq to strip Saddam of a suspected arsenal of chemical and other banned weapons.

The younger Bush soon found himself bogged down in a bloody and chaotic occupation of Iraq. No weapons of mass destruction were discovered.

For many diplomats, more impressive than the elder Bush’s show of American power in 1991 was his ability to assemble a 30-nation coalition, backed by a United Nations mandate supported by several Arab nations.

Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, issued a statement praising both Bush’s “historic stand” and his “pivotal role in forming an international coalition, mandated by the U.N. to liberate the state of Kuwait.”

Less often remembered is the work Bush did with another Texan, Secretary of State James Baker, to revive the Middle East peace process.

“The people of Israel will always remember his commitment to Israel’s security, his important contribution to the liberation of Soviet Jewry, and his efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East at the Madrid Conference,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

World leaders emphasized Bush’s decency and integrity.

Bush “saw America’s obligation to the world and honored it,” former British Prime Minister John Major said.