Wolfowitz and the World Bank

George Monbiot has a piece in the Guardian today about the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank. In it, he argues that Wolfowitz is just a symptom, not the problem:

Yes, it seems grossly unfair that all its presidents are Americans, while all IMF presidents are Europeans. But it doesn't matter where the technocrat implementing the US Treasury's decisions comes from. What matters is that he's a technocrat implementing the US Treasury's decisions.

Those objecting to the Wolfowitz's appointment are misconstruing the purpose of the Bank; it was originally designed not to help the world's poor, but to cement US economic hegemony. That the US would then appoint someone will use it explicitly to serve American interests - rather than the development needs of poor nations - is really no surprise.

What is surprising is that the New Zealand government supported Wolfowitz's appointment. There is no reason for this other than craven cowardice in the face of power. If we were serious about helping our Pacific neighbours, we would have used this opportunity to call for a total restructing of the Bank, so that it actually served their interests, rather than those of donor-nations.