Neocons In The Wings (TomPaine.com)

[marmar]

Neocons In The Wings
Terra Lawson-Remer
May 23, 2007



Terra Lawson-Remer, a graduate of NYU Law School, is currently a doctoral candidate in the Institute for Law & Society at New York University, where she works on issues of economic development.


World Bank employees are raising champagne toasts to celebrate the departure of Paul Wolfowitz, but sober-minded critics of the neoconservative agenda should think twice about raising a glass.

Yes, Wolfowitz embodies the arrogance and high-handed conceit of the Bush administration. Yes, his failure of judgment helped lead us into the quagmire of the Iraq war. And yes, his imperious management style and capricious campaign against corruption as bank president alienated longtime Bank staff. All these are good reasons to despise him.

But the issue at the core of the World Bank leadership question is how the bank can best fulfill its mission of fighting global poverty. It is not clear that Wolfowitz's untimely departure furthers that poverty fighting mission. And for those primarily interested in seeing the Bush inner circle (and the architects of the Iraq war) fall from grace, Wolfowitz's ouster is less advantageous than may at first appear.

If Wolfowitz had completed his term, his successor would have been selected by the next president of the United States. In other words, some one other than President Bush. Instead, Wolfowitz's early departure gives Bush the ability to install a World Bank president for another five years. Five more years of a Bush crony at the helm of the World Bank, versus two and half if Wolfowitz had not been ousted.

...(snip)...

Unfortunately the bank has a long history of tragically failed projects. Although many of these development disasters long pre-date Wolfowitz's tenure, the neoconservative approach exacerbates the tragedy. At the heart of the neocon analysis is the idea that there is one right way of doing things (the American way); neoconservatives believe that these "best" institutions can be imposed by force, from outside. Like the debacle in Iraq, this ideological, technocratic approach is precisely what is wrong with the World Bank's current way of operating. The poor need participatory, bottom-up initiatives, not top-down development projects like mining concessions and dams. Visionary leadership is required to guide the bank towards more effective poverty alleviation strategies. Replacing Wolfowitz with another Bush crony—who will serve five more years instead of two and a half—means the bank will 'stay the course' for twice as long. Another five years of Bush appointed bank leadership will only further the failures of foreign aid. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/23/neocons_in_the_wings.php

[Me.]

1. Good Points

But I think we have to stop living in the future. Who knows what will happen by the time * leaves office, or what the situation at the WB, will be. Wolfowitz is a horror and would have kept on doing the same egregious things he was. Thank God he's gone.