Wolfensohn

Last week James Wolfensohn announced that when his current term as President of the World Bank ends on May 31st he will not seek reappointment. I, for one, will be sorry to see him go. First appointed by President Clinton a decade ago he was only the second president of the Bank to serve two terms [the other was Robert MacNamara]. President Bush has not yet indicated whom he will appoint to succeed Wolhensohn and it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Under Wolfensohn the Bank underwent a major reorientation. Much of his first term was taken up by problems ensuing from the collapse of Asian currencies, but as that crisis waned he redirected the Bank's efforts toward international development, specifically the elimination of world poverty.

In recent years Wolfensohn has clashed repeatedly with the Bush administration, which is unfortunate since the two men share many of the same aims. At the World Bank Wolfensohn has emphasized debt relief for poor countries, has supported anti-corruption efforts in a host of countries, has channeled money into HIV/AIDS programs, and has supported female education programs. He has also embraced a broad environmental agenda, channeling funds to organizations dealing with a wide range of environmental problems. More generally he has sought to bypass corrupt governments by working directly with voluntary associations, has cooperated with faith-based initiatives like the Jubilee 2000 program endorsed by the Pope, and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the internet as a means of disseminating information directly to the public and evading government censorship. Needless to say, these policies have generated a lot of critical comment from governments throughout the developing world.

Although many of the goals of the Bush administration parallel those of the Bank there are important differences. Bush has been supportive of anti-corruption initiatives and has committed billions of dollars to anti-AIDs and Malaria programs. Like Wolfensohn, Bush has tried to bypass corrupt governments and to channel aid directly to people and localities throughout the developing world. But Wolfensohn has been critical [unfairly so, I believe] of the Bush administration's environmental stance and has shown a far greater willingness than Bush to coordinate his efforts with major NGOs.

Recently the Administration and the Bank have clashed over relief for the countries affected by the Sumatran tsunami. Wolfensohn has been vocal in his support for unconditional debt relief for the affected countries. So has Tony Blair. At first Bush was supportive of debt relief, but objections by Australia and some of the European states caused him to back off a bit. Now it is likely that a compromise will be reached in which there will be a temporary suspension of debt payments rather than full forgiveness. Generally speaking Wolhensohn and Bush have agreed on the necessity of bypassing corrupt governments and delivering aid directly to the people needing it, but Bush's hostility to NGOs, many of which which he considers to be inefficient, ineffective, and corrupt, and his environmental policies have put the two men at odds and have ended Wolfensohn's tenure at the Bank.

Wolfensohn's departure was probably not voluntary, although everyone is saying nice things about one other, and was quite a shock when he announced his leaving earlier this month. He is making some efforts to shape his successor's policies. Yesterday Wolfensohn announced that he was preparing a guidebook for his successor recommending specific policies and procedures to follow, but this effort is not likely to bear fruit. The next Bank President will be Bush's man. Under Wolfensohn the World Bank exercised a great deal of independence. Under his successor it will be more closely tied to American policy initiatives. I'm not sure that's an improvement, but I'm hopeful. The recent tsunami crisis has generated a tremendous interest in international aid and development throughout the world. It will be interesting to see what ensues both at the Bank and here in the US.

UPDATE:

David Steven at Worldbankpresident.org has a LOT of information and speculation on the upcoming transition. He's the scorecard for those who want to keep track of the players and issues involved. Check it out. There are important things going on here under the radar screens of the major and cable media. I will be blogging more about this later, but right now my wife insists that we have to drive into town to replenish our supplies before bad weather hits.