The World Unloads On Wolfowitz
As panelist Adam Felber commented this weekend on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is among the last people you would picture losing his job over a sex scandal -- in this case a big raise and a promotion for his girlfriend, also a World Bank employee. But a trip over to Watching America illustrates just the level of enmity Wolfowitz engenders around the world. (Watching America, by the way, is a great Web site that tracks the opinions of the U.S. in the world's media.)
Raul Sohr, in a piece entitled "The Intolerable Wolfowitz" for La Nacion in Chile, argues Wolfowitz lost credibility for his hypocritical stance on corruption, nepotism and favoritism. He criticized poor nations for these practices, Sohr writes, and then proceeded to fill bank positions with people he knew from Washington, even before the episode with his girlfriend.
Thomas Devry, the New York correspondent for France's La Liberation writes that Wolfowitz arrived at the bank -- an institution famous for being unmanageable -- with a reputation of being a bad manager. Soon, bank employees, even those who believed he deserved a fair chance, turned against him for several reasons, including a belief that he was using the post as a means to extend the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and the Middle East.
An editorial in de Volkskrant of the Netherlands argues that the moment it became clear that Wolfowitz had practiced cronyism, he became the wrong person to "read the riot act to African leaders when they can't or won't control corruption in their governments." But the Dutch paper also agreed with some of Wolfowitz's supporters that he is the victim of an internal power struggle. When he gave his opponents something to use, they went after him full bore.
So, the paper argues, it's time to appoint the best person to the job, rather than limit it to an American.
It's high time to do what several other organizations devoted to development have been doing for years: Abolish the practice whereby the President of the World Bank must by definition be an America, and the leader of its sister organization the International Monetary Fund must be a European. Instead, recruit the best man (or woman of course) irrespective of nationality. A complete depoliticization of the office would of course be a fantasy, but between the current situation and an entirely merit-based appointment procedure, exists a world of possibilities.
1:29 PM ET | 05-21-2007 | permalink
