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Pioneer of poverty to lead World Bank

05/06/07

A conservative diplomat who has played a prominent role in three right-wing US administrations has been nominated to take control of the World Bank.

Robert Zoellick (53), who is currently employed by investment bank Goldman Sachs, served under US presidents Ronald Regan, George Bush Senior and the current Bush incumbent, George Junior.

It was Bush Jr who proposed Zoellick, in the knowledge that no US nominee has ever been refused presidency of the World Bank.

The Bank promotes itself as a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.  However, any loans secured by impoverished nations are usually gained at the expense of precious natural resources and/or the privatisation of hospitals, transport and other public services.

Governments are also then forced to endorse crippling loan repayment schemes, again at the expense of valuable national infrastructure.

As well as holding top posts in the US Treasury and State departments under Regan and Bush Sr, Zoellick has also served six-years in the current Bush administration.

During this time he was an enthusiastic supporter of the ultra-conservative and imperialist policies of the regime, most notably working as deputy to the notoriously right-wing Condoleezza Rice.

The long-time (US) Republican was instrumental in the Project for the New American Century ‘think-tank’ which advocates US world-dominance and proposed the invasion of Iraq before the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Colleagues in this project included outgoing World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz and fellow Bush luminaries Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

However, Zoellick is no out-and-out militarist and strongly supports the use of economic muscle in the quest for a ‘New American Century’.  When the US and Britain launched their ‘War on Terror’, Zoellick was vociferous in demanding a ‘free trade’ aspect to the campaign.

In the parlance of US capitalism this amounts to the destruction of welfare services for poor people around the world and serves as a Trojan horse for privatisation and profit making at the expense of those same impoverished peoples.

Although Zoellick’s impending appointment has been welcomed by his fellow travellers in right-wing governments across Europe, many social organisations have reacted with justified concern, pointing to his support for pharmaceutical companies in their battle to monopolise anti-Aids drugs and his role in a US legal challenge to European restrictions on Genetically Modified food.
Paul Zeitz of the Global Aids Alliance, an organisation that campaigns on behalf of the victims of HIV/Aids, said that Mr Zoellick “has been a close friend to the brand-name pharmaceutical industry.”
“The bilateral trade agreements he has negotiated effectively block access to generic medication for millions of people.
“He has no significant experience in economic development in poor countries and from a public health standpoint, Zoellick is a terrible choice for World Bank President,” Zeitz said.

However, probably the most damning indictment of Robert Zoellick, came from close friend Condoleezza Rice when she described him as her ‘alter ego’.

The World should take note.