Development and freedom are both interconnected, take development out of system and you end up with Somalias and Eritrea’s of the World, Peace today between nations and level of global activity today after post 911 is not by a chance but a result of coherent strategy of nudging cajoling and threatening all tools of aggressive policy unashamedly applied to the leadership of countries.
The ten nations at the lowest HDI index of UN are also nations that happen to be war torn and terror infested, Pakistan is one of the nations that sits at the bottom of this cesspool, since 911 due to great President who shall be regarded by history as such the priorities and dilly allying of my nation has changed, he changed a General who wars responsible for brining us to a nuclear brink with India, the post Kargil problems, the two Armies were in eye ball to eye ball confrontation, 1 million people ready to fight on a vain honor where both infested with wretched poverty their real enemy, it was people like Rice and Paul Wolfowitz who helped made two nations arch foes for 57 years closer, the world today owes lot of its development and peace to peace makers like Wolwitz, people who made change possible where appeasement was the natural call of the day, it is steel nerves and strong muscles that help change societies not business as usual that try to make everyone happy.
Even economic punitive measures where utilised, Americans were asked in a very strange unprecedented move to leave India dependent on IT connection with US that economic power wrestling helped India to give key concession to Pakistan so as come to a compromise.
Paul Wolfowitz, the most dogged advocate in the Bush administration of using US power to transform the Muslim world, on Wednesday night sought to head off criticism of his nomination to lead the World Bank, saying: “I believe deeply in the mission of development.”
Wolfowitz pledges to ‘do a lot of listening’
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Boston and James Harding in Washington
Paul Wolfowitz, the most dogged advocate in the Bush administration of using US power to transform the Muslim world, on Wednesday night sought to head off criticism of his nomination to lead the World Bank, saying: “I believe deeply in the mission of development.”
Speaking hours after President George W. Bush announced he intended to send his hawkish deputy defence secretary to the world's leading development institution, Mr Wolfowitz struck a conciliatory tone.
He told the Financial Times: “Before I have my own vision, I need to do a lot of listening.”
Some wary Europeans and development economists have argued he is ill-suited for the post.
But Mr Wolfowitz said: “I look forward to meeting the European executive directors and the European finance ministers and development ministers. I know that in this job I would be working for them as members of the Bank. I think they'll find me a good listener, and I know I have a lot that I need to hear and understand.
“I had very good conversations on the phone today with a number of leaders around the world, including the Spanish managing director of the [International Monetary Fund], Rodrigo de Rato, who was very positive.
“People who know me well from my development experience like the prime minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, or Sri Mulyani, the economic development minister of Indonesia, are very positive. I hope as others get to know me in this field, they'll form a similar opinion.”
Mr Wolfowitz's candidacy follows the nomination of John Bolton, also a conservative hawk and a sceptic about multilateralist diplomacy, to represent the US at the United Nations choices that underline Mr Bush's eagerness to see multilateral organisations advance US foreign policy.
But Mr Wolfowitz said: “This is not about changing the agenda of the World Bank. The agenda of the World Bank is about poverty reduction, about helping billions of people lift themselves up out of misery. It's a unifying mission that brings people together, and I look forward to that opportunity.
“Problems like poverty and HIV/Aids need to be addressed for their own sake as humanitarian issues, but it's also the case that soundly-based economic development supports the advance of liberty and freedom as well.”
Nevertheless, the nomination could start a struggle within the bank.
The US traditionally chooses its head but the nomination must be approved by the directors, who represent member countries. The US moved in 2000 to block Caio Koch Weser, the European candidate to head the IMF, setting a precedent for such a veto.
When Mr Wolfowitz's candidacy first emerged in the Financial Times this month, development experts and high-ranking bank officials were appalled that a man with minimal economic or financial expertise was being considered.
Mr Wolfowitz is commonly identified as the intellectual architect of the Iraq war. He argued immediately after the terror attacks of September 11 2001 for a military invasion to oust Saddam Hussein and publicly predicted that Iraqis would greet US troops as “liberators”.
On Wednesday Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, and one of the world's foremost development experts, said: “It's a very surprising and in many ways inappropriate nomination. International aid organisations warned that the World Bank needed to maintain its mission to minimise poverty, rather than reframe its purpose to spread liberty in an effort to combat Islamic militancy.
But within the White House, Mr Wolfowitz is esteemed for the clarity of his argument, his effectiveness as a bureaucrat and his vision of democratic change in the Middle East. His developing country experience was primarily gained during his years as US ambassador to Indonesia.
Announcing his choice, Mr Bush said: “Paul is committed to development. He's a compassionate, decent man who will do a fine job in the World Bank.”
John Snow, US Treasury secretary, said Mr Wolfowitz was “a highly qualified candidate”. He said other countries had been “consulted extensively...on the essential qualifications of a World Bank leader”. European officials said, however, they had not been consulted on the nomination of Mr Wolfowitz.
Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, also praised the president's “superb” decision.
“Dr Wolfowitz is a gifted public servant. He is thoughtful, astute, and broadly experienced in world affairs through service in the Department of Defense and the Department of State, including as ambassador to Indonesia, and as the dean of The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
“The Department of Defence will miss his talents, insights, and energy, and I will miss his daily counsel and friendship.”
Published: March 1 2005 00:43 | www.ft.com
|
