[lbo-talk] Wolfowitz 'to stay' at World Bank

Wojtek Sokolowski swsokolowski at yahoo.com
Sun Apr 15 19:15:18 PDT 2007


--- Michael Pollak <mpollak at panix.com> wrote:


>
> > [WS:] What surprises me is that the powers that be
> are willing to
> > sacrifice the international reputation of the Bank
> to save the position of
> > a Bush cronie. Why?
>
> Because institutionally, the Power that Be at the
> bank is the US government.
> For enough foreign countries to gang up and oppose
> its wishes on a seat it
> owns would be an historical departure of
> extraordinary magnitude, and for
> most of them this is a trivial personnel matter, not
> nearly worth the risks
> and efforts, and certainly not against an
> administration known for its
> vengefulness.
>
> But it may be better this way. So long as he's up
> there, he's like a
> pinata. Maybe it's better him staying there with
> vastly diminished
> influence than a fresh replacement.

[WS:] I certainly agree with your last statement, and I also understand the institutional dynamics of the Bank's governance. What surprises me is that his tenure is going to diminish the institutional usefulness of the Bank as a tool of the 'international bourgeoisie' - which certrainly includes the US. Maybe I am missing something, but it seems strange that the US elites seem willing to compromise their instituional interests for what seems to be mere cronyism.

Another odd aspect of this affair - the New Yorker magazine run a feature on him, which was surprisingly sympathetic, given the liberal leaning of the magazine and fact that Wofie is a key neo-con hack in Bush's stable, and the main architect of the Iraq fiasco.

Something does not add up here.

Wojtek

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