World Bank: You read it here ‘first’
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
– Kurt Vonnegut, introduction to Mother Night (1961)
Paul Wolfowitz will make a great World Bank president.
“Who, me?”
Not bad. Not good. Great. When he steps down in 2010 (or so), he will be so judged.
Ever since Wolfowitz’s nomination experienced such a rapid reversal of field — from initial shock to sudden acceptance — I’ve been reflecting on what the World Bank head might need, and this conclusion came to me. I can’t prove it, and I don’t really expect many people to believe it, but here’s why:
… he has the aptitudes one needs:
- Intellect. Nobody ever suggested he was dumb.
- Energy. Nobody suggests he’s lazy.
- Global perspective. It is the World Bank, after all — it needs people who think globally. Again, nobody’s suggesting Wolfowitz doesn’t.
- Large organization managerial experience. Whatever else the Pentagon’s number two may be or should be, he had better he able to master a huge organization.
Yes, yes, concede Wolfowitz’s critics — of whom there are many. But, they assert:
- He has no training in economics or finance. His lack of financing experience, coupled with what they see as a fanatic’s zeal, will lead the bank horribly astray. Well, it can be learned on the job (as I’ll be the first to tell you!).
- He will be Bush’s cat’s-paw (or, less kindly, that the president is his cat’s-paw), and as such, will use the World Bank as an American stamping ground.
The latter point is not directly refutable — but here’s what tips it for me:
- Tenure. He’ll outlast the president who nominated him:
The president serves an initial five-year term which may be renewed by the executive directors for five years, or less, with no limit to the number of terms.
Wolfowitz is 61; the World Bank will be his last professional role, the first one where he is clearly in charge. I believe he will embrace it, and grow into it, and be the Bank (as a predecessor Pentagon-to-World-Bank president, Robert McNamara, did, with results whose success is hotly disputed).
“There is a force in the universe that makes things happen … and all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking … let things happen … and Be the Ball.”
“I have become what I beheld and I am content that I have done right.”
– Eliot Ness, as penned by David Mamet
Like all predictions, this one could be spectacularly wrong, but if not … you read it here first (well, close to first, anyway!).
