Paul Wolfowitz is still president of the World Bank. According to the world’s leading source of Wolftroversy news, the FT, several European finance ministers want him out. But given the way power is exercised at the bank, that’s not enough:
A senior European official told the Financial Times that unless the White House withdrew its support, European countries were not sufficiently united to succeed in an immediate attempt to force Mr Wolfowitz’s removal. …
Germany and the UK were leading the fight against Mr Wolfowitz, with France holding back for tactical reasons and Spain willing to sit on the sidelines.
The White House has twice declared its backing for the bank president and several African leaders stood up in support. Antoinette Sayeh, finance minister of Liberia and a former World Bank official, reflected the African stance, praising Mr Wolfowitz’s “visionary leadership”.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Japan is on Wolfie’s side in this, too. All of which appears to indicate that Wolfowitz is not totally inept at diplomacy. Either that, or lots of the world’s finance ministers are hoping that they too can someday get their girlfriends/boyfriends swanky jobs at the World Bank.
