♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Bretton Woods Twins
at 5/30/2007 12:04:00 AM
When I last talked about the matter of possible neoconservative-leaning World Bank heads, I ended with this: Who's next from these guys? Ahmed Chalabi for World Bank chief? My wish list for the next World Bank chief was simple: First, s/he should not be a neoconservative. Second, s/he should have previous experience with development. Your faithful correspondent thought he was being crafty with suggesting that the next nominee would be another neoconservative, but it turns out that the next nominee from Bush isn't far away from the neocon creed [sigh]. I greatly regret having raised the possibility [a thousand lashes onto me]. Nor does it appear that the nominee has a record of working on development matters.Bob Zoellick, former US Trade Representative and Deputy Secretary of State, has been suggested as the next nominee for the post of World Bank president. By convention, the US gets to select the nominee for World Bank head, whereas the EU gets the same privilege for the IMF head. So, the US gets to try its luck again after the Wolfowitz debacle. Unfortunately, it seems Zoellick isn't that much different than Wolfowitz in his political leanings. Zoellick was a signatory in the New American Century letter to then-President Clinton on "implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power" alongside neoconservative luminaries such as Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz [we're not surprised to see you here], Richard Perle, William Kristol, and John Bolton [yipes!] On the neoconservative front, then, Zoellick's credentials are for real. Will he start blabbering about corruption all the time while shoveling wads of cash Iraq's way like Wolfowitz did? Again, it's an open question.
Nor does Zoellick have much development experience as far as I can tell. Really, the Bushites could have made a far less questionable choice than Zoellick, who comes with question marks on his neoconservative leanings and lack of development experience. If this bit of news is true, then the matter heads to the World Bank for his approval. There's a possibility that the other member countries of the Bank will raise their hackles over Zoellick, though I doubt it. They got their scalp with Wolfowitz. Rest assured that if Zoellick turns into a Wolfowitz-lite, then he too will be turfed in short order. Again, though, this choice does not really erase concerns about another rehash of the sad Wolfowitz episode. Bad choice, Bushy.
UPDATE: Here is Zoellick in his pre-W sidekick years in Foreign Affairs on "Campaign 2000: A Republican Foreign Policy"...for the World Bank? We'll soon see whether the two are synonymous. For the Bank and world development's sake, let's hope not:
A primary task for the next president of the United States is to build public support for a strategy that will shape the world so as to protect and promote American interests and values for the next 50 years [again...at the World Bank?].
