Originally published on the CGS blog on May 10, 2007.
President Bush finds himself with an opportunity to strategically leverage the imminent departure of close ally Prime Minister Tony Blair in order to address the crisis at the World Bank . Bush has, to date, been unwilling to push current World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to one side, although there are hints that the White House may be distancing itself from him.
Bush should act decisively on the World Bank issue and take two steps. First, ask Wolfowitz to resign as World Bank President effective July 1. Second, Bush could state that he believes in maintaining the role the U.S. has held in picking President’s of the World Bank and that his choice is Prime Minister Blair. At a stroke Bush will have placed a European he trusts in the Bank slot, he will have removed the current lame duck President and he will have done so in a way that shows the Europeans he is ready to engage with them on issues they care about. An additional benefit is that he can provide his friend Tony Blair with a suitable platform to implement his important agenda on climate change and Africa.
