If approved by the World Bank's 24-member board, Zoellick, 53, will also bring to the institution years of experience in the foreign and economic policy arenas under three Republican presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.
Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, praised his "ability as a strategist, as one who can broker compromise and as one who has profound interests in the concerns of developing countries." As trade chief for the European Union, Lamy went head-to-head with Zoellick when he was US trade representative over steel, aid to plane makers Boeing Co. and Airbus, and hormone-treated beef.
"I think we often disagreed, but that was part of our business," said Luiz Felipe de Seixas Corrêa, the Brazilian ambassador who led his country's successful WTO challenge of the US cotton subsidy program. "I can say he's superbly qualified for the World Bank job."
The selection of Zoellick appeared far less controversial than when Bush chose Wolfowitz, then the number two official at the Pentagon. His role in the Iraq war upset Europeans and others.
Wolfowitz had a stormy two-year tenure at the bank, culminating in his resignation -- effective June 30. He was essentially forced to leave after a special bank panel found he broke bank rules when he arranged a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee. The controversy caused a staff revolt and strained US relations with Europeans.
Zoellick will need to regain trust, rebuild credibility, and mend frayed relations inside the institution as well as with its member countries around the world. He will also need to persuade countries to contribute nearly $30 billion over the next few years to fund a centerpiece bank program that provides interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries.
"We need to approach this task with humility and creative minds," Zoellick said. He said he planned to meet soon with the bank's contributors, borrowers, and others, to listen to their perspectives on how the institution can best fulfill its purpose.
