As we all know at this point, Wolfowitz is out as President of the World Bank.
I have a slightly more insider view of this whole issue than most people. I am not a Bank employee, however, I have been in the field of international development and foreign aid for over 10 years working for a variety of nonprofits and consulting firms implementing development programs.
From that perspective, the following statement struck me as strange:
"This is the biggest crisis of leadership that the bank has ever had," says Sebastian Mallaby.
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There is no denying that Mr. Wolfowitz is a SOB. I never wanted him to get the job, and now that he is gone, I say good riddance.
However, I've had the pleasure of working with the Bank over the last decade to implement a variety of projects, in addition to working with USAID, the United Nations, Asia Development Bank, and the list goes on and on.
Rarely did I have more difficulty in working with an international or multilateral donor than I had with the World Bank. The inefficiency, ineffectiveness, lack of empathy with the people they are trying to help, and yes, corruption (regardless of how much lipservice they give to fighting it) is remarkable.
Don't get me wrong, I think the Bank has done a lot of good and can continue to do so, with the right leadership and the right mission and goals. I don't think, as was mentioned on NPR last Friday, that the Bank and it's mission is obsolete.
However, Mr. Mallaby, if this is the biggest crisis of leadership that the Bank has had to face, well, maybe that is telling you something.