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First it was the IMF; now its the World Bank. Last year in June, after much moot and gripe by the developing world over who would head the IMF after the resignation of Strauss Kahn, a European candidate - Christian Lagarde - was appointed.
It had been argued by the emerging economies that the succession rule for selecting the heads of the IMF and the World Bank involve Europeans and the US calling the dibs on the two posts, respectively. The controversy has risen again, with the developing world again contending for a fairer selection process rather than one based on nationalities.
Interestingly, for the first time, the developing world will also have its fair share of contesting for the post. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian Finance Minister, and José Antonio Ocampo, Colombias former finance minister will be bidding for the post too, besides the US-nominated candidate.
And guess who the US president has appointed, in a move that fits the clever and wise vocabulary quite perfectly - a South-Korea born Asian American. Dr Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth College, is praised by many for being a judicious choice by President Obama, as his South-Korean origin will likely help placate the developing world, even if to a small extent.
But heres the catch-22: Kims background is in medicine and not in economics or business, unlike most of his predecessors. He has worked as a senior official at the World Health Organisation and has to his credits efforts focusing on health concerns, especially in developing countries, besides being the founder and former executive director of Partners in Health, a not-for-profit organisation that works for health programmes in poor countries.
Recently, the role of the World Bank President being a veteran in business and economics had already come under the critics eye. Just because WB is a ank doesn mean the institutes head has to be a banker, it is argued. With the changing times of heightened globalization, the WB is not just a lender to the poor countries, but also serves a critical advisory and consulting role.
Consequently, the cast of the WB head has been remolded to include someone not only with relevant development experience, but also sound management skills, as well as a holistic vision for how the bank should be functioning.
While Obamas choice fits the development experience arena pretty well, Dr Kim may not be a well-rounded individual for the job.
Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - a Washington-based foreign policy think tank - was aptly quoted in the Financial Times on Sunday, "Kim was an inspired choice but...he would face challenges in a job that spanned the entire spectrum of development issues - from economics, agriculture and rural development to financial flows and institutional development."
Kevin P Gallagher, associate professor of international relations at Boston University claims that should the selection be based on merit alone, Ocampo should bag the position. He is a leading development economist, who has served in various ministerial capacities in Colombia (including agriculture and planning) and also has useful experience as a finance minister.
As for Okonjo-Iweala, besides being the only female nominee was also second in command to Robert Zoellick, the last WB president.
However, voting power on the WBs board is largely determined by funding from the members and the US has the highest voting shares on the board. Consequently, a US nominee will be the likely pick for the key post.
Having said that Obamas selection shows that the calls of the developing world are being listened to, as aptly said by Sanjaya Baru, Director for geo-economics and strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Delhi, "US tokenism in nominating an Asian-American is a recognition of the global shift."

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