World Bank President: Powell Archives

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Bono praises Powell. Having ruled himself out of the race, Bono has given a boost to Colin Powell's candidacy. Bono said (Reuters): "I think Colin Powell would do an incredible job, but there's some great people on the list". The U2 singer also stressed: "it's a very important job. What we forget is, it's an area where decisions taken in Washington affect many, many more lives than people are conscious of".

Alex Wilks ~ March 13, 2005

Powell's a Jolie good fellow. The New York Daily News carries confirmation that Angelina Jolie is backing Colin Powell.

To prevent another media frenzy about a star heading the Bank, Jolie took care to confirm that she is not interested in the position herself. "I've got too many skeletons in my closet for politics," she joked. Fewer serious skeletons than some of other candidates, however, we think.

Alex Wilks ~ March 11, 2005

Balancing Bolton with Powell? The appointment of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations has rung further alarm bells for those following the Bank president process. In the words of Helen Thomas "Bolton's style is to flaunt U.S. superpower military status and to lay down the law to other nations: Our way or the highway. A diplomat he is not". A similar person in charge of the World Bank's significant policy-making and development financing operations could be devastatating. more...

Alex Wilks ~ March 10, 2005

Angela Jolie news flash. Catwoman and UN goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie thinks Colin Powell is man enough for the job. She's attending a dinner with him this evening, and perhaps she'll persuade him to stand. Here's a picture or three of the happy couple...

David Steven ~ March 09, 2005

Insider speaks out. "An open process with a search panel should be the approach for all multilateral institutions," says Peter Woicke, outgoing executive vice president of the World Bank's private lending arm, the International Finance Corporation.

"The institutions suffer as a result of the way they pick their leadership," he argues. more...

David Steven ~ February 03, 2005

Outside the box. In an editorial, the Washington Post dismisses the claims of all leading candidates for presidency of the "powerful but fragile" World Bank - bar Colin Powell, who may not be willing to take the job on.

"If Mr. Powell is not interested, the Bush administration should think outside the box," it says, without giving us any help as to what "out of the box" might mean in this context. more...

David Steven ~ January 23, 2005

Who runs the world? We get a nice plug from Noura Boustany in the Washington Post (scroll for it, free subs), who reckons that Randall Tobias is the only "major remaining candidate" for president, with Colin Powell and Christine Todd Whitman out of the running.

Apparently, James Wolfensohn and John Snow, US Treasury Secretary, had lunch yesterday to discuss sucessors.

David Steven ~ January 19, 2005

No good candidates. The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial, is down on foreign aid (not an effective development tool), down on the World Bank (half a trillion dollars down the pan), and down on the candidates to replace James Wolfensohn as Bank president.

Christine Todd Whitman - "bends with the prevailing media winds". Colin Powell - "would bring star quality but not economic experience to the task". Peter McPherson - "helped develop post-Saddam Iraq's pro-growth economic policies" (it's not clear if the WSJ thinks this is a good or a bad thing).

David Steven ~ January 13, 2005

Keeping Powell quiet. Over at Slate, Fred Kaplan sees two reasons why Colin Powell could get the nod.

"First, Robert McNamara pioneered the idea that a departing, war-weary Cabinet secretary could take refuge there. Second, the assignment would keep Powell from writing the tell-all memoir for which publishers are no doubt lining up to offer him huge advances."

David Steven ~ January 10, 2005

Taylor tipped, Powell and McPherson also running. U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs John Taylor "appeared to move ahead as a top contender for the job" in the eyes of Reuters late yesterday. His position overseeing the international financial institutions for Treasury since mid-2001 certainly makes him a powerful player in the Bank.

Italian TV station Rai Uno is among those who see Colin Powell's speeches during his tour in tsunami-struck Asia as a warm-up for a serious candidacy for the Bank position. more...

Alex Wilks ~ January 07, 2005

Zoellick no longer Bank favourite. It won't be Zoellick, according to the Nelson Report, an insiders' briefing that circulates around Washington (not online), but Bill Clinton may be worth an outside bet!

"The Bob Zoellick for Deputy Secretary of State under Condi Rice rumor is true, bearing in mind that the gods can always change their minds," Chris Nelson writes. more...

David Steven ~ January 06, 2005

Jeremy Warner backs Colin Powell for the job, claiming that Powell is still being strongly favoured for the role.

This despite Powell ruling himself out of the running...

David Steven ~ January 05, 2005

Robert Zoellick is being touted as the favourite to become the next World Bank President, especially after Colin Powell ruled himself out of the running.

Activists, however, are not happy. more...

David Steven ~ January 03, 2005

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