Stewart M. Patrick

The Internationalist

Patrick assesses the future of world order, state sovereignty, and multilateral cooperation.

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Showing posts for "IMF and World Bank"

Another American World Bank President Is a Missed Opportunity

by Stewart M. Patrick
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) Jim Yong Kim (C) as his nominee to be the next president of the World Bank, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, March 23, 2012. (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters) U.S. President Barack Obama (R) Jim Yong Kim (C) as his nominee to be the next president of the World Bank, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, March 23, 2012. (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters)

On CFR’s new Global Expert Roundup, I argue that the U.S. diplomatic push to install an American as the next World Bank president squandered a golden opportunity to promote a new era of global governance founded on contemporary economic realities, and not outdated Western prerogatives. The Obama administration could have thrown its weight behind either of the two outstanding alternatives–Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria or José Antonio Ocampo of Colombia–and in doing so, would have signaled that global institutional reform requires integrating the dynamic developing world. Nevertheless, the first multi-candidate competition is a historic turning point. Read more »

Nuggets from the World Policy Conference

by Stewart M. Patrick

Austrian President Heinz Fischer makes a speech at the opening of the World Policy Conference at the historic Hofburg palace in Vienna December 9, 2011. The World Policy Conference is devoted to the issue of global governance in all its aspects (Herwig Prammer/Courtesy Reuters).

 –Vienna, Austria

The Internationalist spent the weekend at one of the more compelling stops on the global meeting circuit: the annual World Policy Conference (WPC). The brainchild of Thierry de Montbrial, founding president of the French think tank, l’Institut Francais des Relations Internationales (IFRI), the WPC provides a valuable alternative to the larger and flashier Davos—and a welcome opportunity to debate the state of global governance. This year’s setting was Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, a spectacular reminder of the city’s imperial Hapsburg history. Read more »

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