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 Business News | May 2007 
Bush Nominates Zoellick as World Bank President
 Andrew Buncombe - The Independent UK
| | U.S. President George W. Bush (L) listens after announcing that former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick (R) will take over as World Bank President from Paul Wolfowitz, in the Roosevelt Room of White House in Washington May 30, 2007. (Reuters/Larry Downing) |
President George Bush has nominated Robert Zoellick - a former government official with close links to corporate America - to take over as head of the controversy-stricken World Bank.
Officials in Washington said that Mr Bush expected the board of the bank to accept the nomination, thereby drawing a line under the furore surrounding the organisation's out-going president, Paul Wolfowitz. The US - which as the bank's biggest lender traditionally nominates its president - is insistent that another American fill the top job despite calls from some quarters to open the process to candidates from across the world.
Mr Zoellick's experience in finance and diplomacy "make him uniquely prepared to take on this challenge," a Bush administration official said last night.
"He has the trust and respect of many officials around the world and believes deeply in the World Bank's mission of tackling poverty." But critics of the bank will likely focus on Mr Zoellick's close links to corporate America. He is the head of investment bank Goldman Sachs and previously he served on the board of Enron, the world's largest oil company.
In government Mr Zoellick served at the treasury under President Bush Sr and under the current president he served as deputy Secretary of State and US Trade Representative. He was creditted with playing a leading role in the peaceful reunification of Germany and the Doha trade talks.
If confirmed by the bank's 24-member board, Mr Zoellick will replace Mr Wolfowitz, who is stepping down on 30 June following an ethics controversy that erupted after it emerged he had helped his girlfriend receive a sizeable compensation package from the bank.
The affair prompted widespread calls for the resignation of Mr Wolfowitz, distrusted by many because of his role as an architect of the Iraq war while deputy Defence Secretary.
Observers said Mr Zoellick would face the challenge of regaining trust, rebuilding credibility and working to settle internal disputes within the 185-member organisation. In addition, he will have to persuade those member countries to contribute about $30bn (£15bn) over the coming years to fund a new showcase programme that provides interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries.
Politically, Mr Zoellick is closely aligned with the neo-conservatives. In 1998 he was a signatory to the mission statements of the Project for the New American Century, which called for increased military budgets and the ousting of Saddam.
A couple of years later he wrote an essay in Foreign Affairs magazine which imagined a US foreign policy far more interventionist than initially imagined by Mr Bush as he sought the presidency. He wrote: "A modern Republican foreign policy recognises that there is still evil in the world, people who hate America and the ideas for which it stands."
"Today, we face enemies who are hard at work to develop nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, along with the missiles to deliver them. The United States must remain vigilant and have the strength to defeat its enemies."
Mr Zoellick, a keen long-distance runner, was selected for the nomination following a search process led by the US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
Officials said that Mr Paulson had received positive feedback from other member nations on the prospect of Mr Zoellick becoming the bank's new president. |
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