Will there be life after Wolfowitz?

Unloved and demoralised, the bank still has work to do, especially in Africa

WHEN Paul Wolfowitz was named as president of the World Bank just two years ago, optimists compared him to another of the Pentagon's controversial sons, Robert McNamara. Perhaps, like the mastermind of the Vietnam war, Mr Wolfowitz would quit the rubble of a failed conflict to build a righteous empire of aid. But now Mr Wolfowitz is likened less to a benign emperor than to Caesar's suspect spouse.

As recrimination swirls around him, squabbles over his future are dragging on. As The Economist went to press, the bank's executive directors—civil servants who oversee the bank on behalf of member governments—had yet to pass judgment on the deal Mr Wolfowitz struck for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, in August 2005. A bank employee, she was not allowed to keep her job when he took his. Prompted by his directors, Mr Wolfowitz posted Ms Riza outside the bank—and gave her a promotion. The terms he set proved too rich for bank staff, and some donor governments, to stomach.

At this month's spring meetings, the 24 ministers who steer the institution showed both indignation and indecision. The Americans who appointed Mr Wolfowitz have not abandoned him, and the European donors who want him out seem to will the end but not the means.

The World Bank | Will there be life after Wolfowitz? | Economist.com