Mr. Paul Wolfowitz has taken the helm of the World Bank. His nomination was marked by numerous protests and concerns; his tenure at the U.S. Department of Defense worried many who feared that he would turn the organization into an arm of U.S. foreign policy or that he did not understand its mission. Mr. Wolfowitz is likely to surprise his detractors: His resume shows a deep understanding and appreciation of the importance of development and a single-mindedness that should help him realize the World Bank's mission.
Mr. Wolfowitz is best known for helping provide the intellectual framework for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Serving as No. 2 in the Pentagon, he made and implemented the decisions that underpinned the war and created the current situation in Iraq. He pushed for the aggressive promotion of democracy, arguing that Iraq could become a domino that could spread democracy throughout the Middle East.
Far more important for his new assignment is Mr. Wolfowitz's tenure as the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia from 1986-89. During that time, he was said to be a force for democracy who pushed for economic and political reform, but quietly and from behind the scenes. In Indonesia, he also become intimately acquainted with the importance of development and was sensitive to the broad range of issues encompassed in the rubric of development. There are few laboratories to better understand the complexities of poverty than the sprawling Indonesian archipelago.