"Not smart": Indonesia Post An opinion piece in the Jakarta Post comments that, with Wolfowitz at the helm, "the perception that the World Bank is merely a vehicle for furthering U.S. interests will become stronger".

Writer Ari A. Perdana continues continues: "many fear that if he becomes the World Bank president, the Bank's policies will be directed by the U.S. government's interests. Developing countries worry that whatever lending or development assistance they receive will be tied to non-development issues such as international security".

The article continues: "The Bank has been trying hard to maintain its image, which has been deteriorating since the rise of the anti-globalization movement in the late '90s. The Bank has also issued revisions to its development approaches in the past half-century. But if Wolfowitz becomes the Bank's president, it would be hard to avoid the perception that the World Bank will become, in Paul Krugman's words, 'an ugly American Bank'".

"From the Indonesian perspective, we may be better off having Wolfowitz in the inner circle of the Bush administration as our relationship with the U.S government is more uncertain than that with the World Bank", the piece argues.

Perdana respects Wolfowitz "as a person", but that "running an organization like the Bank is different from running the Pentagon", and that the baggage Wolfowitz brings will weigh down the Bank significantly.

Alex Wilks ~ March 22, 2005

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