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Prof. Paul D. Wolfowitz


Self Description

January 2006: "Paul Wolfowitz was unanimously approved as 10th President of the World Bank Group by the institution’s Board of Executive Directors on March 31, 2005.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Wolfowitz spent more than three decades as a public servant, ambassador and educator, including 24 years in government service under seven U.S. presidents. His practical experience in the developing world includes three years in Indonesia as U.S. Ambassador, and his Washington-based policy work on East Asian affairs.

Mr. Wolfowitz also has been a leader in higher education. From 1994-2001, he served as Dean and Professor of International Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University. Earlier, he taught political science at Yale University. Mr. Wolfowitz has written widely on foreign policy, diplomacy and national security, and was a member of the advisory board of Foreign Affairs.

In government, Mr. Wolfowitz served three years under Secretary of State George Shultz as Ambassador to Indonesia, the fourth most-populous country in the world and largest in the Muslim world. During Ambassador Wolfowitz’s tenure in that country, he was known for reaching out to all elements of society and for his advocacy of reform and political openness. Under his leadership, the embassy in Jakarta was officially recognized as one of the best-managed U.S. diplomatic missions in the world.

Earlier, Mr. Wolfowitz served two years as head of the U. S. State Department’s Policy Planning Office and three-and-a-half years as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, where he worked directly with the leaders of more than 20 countries. In that position, Mr. Wolfowitz played a key role in supporting the peaceful transition to democracy in the Philippines in 1986. He also worked to help improve U.S. relations with China, strengthen alliances with Japan and Korea, and lay the groundwork for the subsequent democratic transition in Korea.

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed Mr. Wolfowitz to the post of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he played a role in planning for the successful liberation of Kuwait, including organizing the fundraising effort that raised $50 billion in multilateral support. He also collaborated on the U.S. administration’s nuclear arms reduction initiative, in September 1991. As Deputy Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001-2005, Mr. Wolfowitz’s responsibilities included oversight of the budget process as well as development of policy to respond to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Mr. Wolfowitz majored in Mathematics at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY, and earned a Ph.D in Political Science at the University of Chicago. His early interest in development issues was evident in his 1972 doctoral dissertation on water desalination in the Middle East, as well as in his first government paper — written in 1966 for the Budget Bureau on the impact of agricultural subsidies."

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/ORGANIZATION/EXTOFFICEPRESIDENT/0,,contentMDK:20519590%7EmenuPK:51175739%7EpagePK:51174171%7EpiPK:64258873%7EtheSitePK:1014541,00.html

Third-Party Descriptions

June 2008: 'The report concluded that Stephen J. Hadley, now the national security adviser, and Paul D. Wolfowitz, who was then the deputy defense secretary, “acted within their authorities” to send the Pentagon officials to Rome. But the report criticized the meetings as ill advised, and accused Mr. Hadley and Mr. Wolfowitz of keeping the State Department and intelligence agencies in the dark about the meetings, which the report portrayed as part of a rogue intelligence operation.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/world/middleeast/06intel.html

August 2007: 'The grave violations suffered by Padilla were not isolated occurrences by rogue lower-level officials,' the suit says. Besides Mr. Rumsfeld, it names Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lowell Jacoby, among others, who 'personally ordered and/or approved Mr. Padilla's detention and interrogation program.'

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p03s03-usju.html

May 2007: The departure of Paul D. Wolfowitz as World Bank president is prompting calls around the world to revoke the traditional right of the United States to select the institution's leader.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/18/AR2007051800157.html

May 2007: The World Bank executive board has concluded that the bank's president, Paul D. Wolfowitz, broke ethics rules in engineering a hefty pay raise for his girlfriend, and plans to try to end his tenure next week, senior bank officials said yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/11/AR2007051102492.html

April 2007: Wolfowitz has been controversial from the start of his tenure. Fairly or unfairly, he has been criticized within the bank for bringing in a handful of advisers from the Bush administration, in which he had served immediately prior to his current post.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0423/p01s01-usec.html

April 2007: "Wolfowitz wanted more than a dozen amendments to the standard contract that had served the institution for decades...A final sticking point, conveyed in all capital letters in an e-mail to then-general counsel Roberto Dañino, was Wolfowitz's insistence that, while he had earlier offered to recuse himself from all office matters involving bank employee and his girlfriend Shaha Riza, he insisted on retaining retain "professional contact" with her -- something that the executive board later determined was a clear conflict of interest under personnel rules."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR2007041401564.html

January 2006: World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz announced yesterday that he is suspending all of the bank's aid to Chad, taking a hard line in the first major test of his pledge to fight corruption.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010601718.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Student/Trainee (past or present) Cornell University Organization Jan 9, 2006
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Department of Defense (DOD)/Defense Department Organization Jul 20, 2003
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) International Finance Corporation (IFC) Organization Oct 29, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Organization Jan 9, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) State Department/Department of State (DOS) Organization Jan 9, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) University of Chicago Organization Jan 9, 2006
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) World Bank Group Organization May 6, 2005
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Yale University Organization Jan 9, 2006
Opponent (past or present) Nancy Birdsall Person Apr 15, 2007
Subordinate of (past or present) George Pratt Shultz Person Jan 9, 2006

Articles and Resources

21 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 1]

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Jun 06, 2008 Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report

QUOTE: The report was released Thursday after years of partisan squabbling, and it represented the close of five years of investigations by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence into the use, abuse and faulty assessments of intelligence leading to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

 New York Times
Aug 24, 2007 Padilla sues US officials over confinement: Despite his conviction on terror conspiracy charges, his lawyers say he suffered 'psychological abuse' during military detention.

QUOTE: Convicted Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla is seeking to hold former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 59 other US officials responsible for what his lawyers say were abusive and unconstitutional tactics used against Mr. Padilla while he was held in military custody as an enemy combatant from 2002 to 2006.

 Christian Science Monitor
Aug 15, 2007 Beyond Padilla terror case, huge legal issues: His detention and interrogation in the US raises basic constitutional questions.

QUOTE: Many legal scholars and intelligence experts say Padilla's ordeal highlights the danger of a government that obtains information through secret, coercive means and then selectively releases some of it to justify its actions.

 Christian Science Monitor
Jul 07, 2007 Whistle-Blower's Fight For Pension Drags On: Former Defense Official Seeks Private Relief Bill

QUOTE: Federal investigations found Barlow was unfairly fired, winning him sympathy from dozens of Democratic and Republican lawmakers and public interest groups. But for 17 years, he has fought without success to gain a federal pension, blocked at every turn by legal and political obstacles also faced by other federal intelligence whistle-blowers.

 Washington Post
Jun 06, 2007 Libby Given 30 Months for Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case

QUOTE: I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the principal architects of President Bush’s foreign policy, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for lying during a C.I.A. leak investigation...If Mr. Libby goes to prison, he will be the first senior White House official to do so since the days of Watergate.

 New York Times
May 19, 2007 Debate Rises On World Bank Succession: Some World Leaders Oppose Traditional Prerogative of U.S.

QUOTE: As the White House asserted its claim on picking Wolfowitz's successor, aid groups and former bank officials demanded that the next president be selected not in deference to the Bush administration, but on professional merits.

 Washington Post
May 15, 2007 Guantánamo Detainees’ Suit Challenges Fairness of Military’s Repeat Hearings

QUOTE: The military system of determining whether detainees are properly held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, includes an unusual practice: If Pentagon officials disagree with the result of a hearing, they order a second one, or even a third, until they approve of the finding. These “do-overs,” as some critics call them, are among the most controversial parts of the military’s system of determining whether detainees are enemy combatants, and the fairness of the repeat hearings is at the center of a pivotal federal appeals court case.

 New York Times
May 12, 2007 Bank May Vote No Confidence In Wolfowitz

QUOTE: The World Bank executive board has concluded that the bank's president, Paul D. Wolfowitz, broke ethics rules in engineering a hefty pay raise for his girlfriend, and plans to try to end his tenure next week, senior bank officials said yesterday.

 Washington Post
Apr 25, 2007 Pentagon to End Talon Data-Gathering Program

QUOTE: Talon, launched in 2003 with an eye toward Sept. 11, 2001, came under public scrutiny in December 2005 with the disclosure that it had collected data on anti-military protesters and peaceful demonstrators. More recently, the American Civil Liberties Union released an internal Pentagon report showing that, as of 18 months ago, Talon had about 13,000 entries, of which 2,821 involved reports on U.S. citizens.

 Washington Post
Apr 23, 2007 World Bank faces setback to war on corruption: Actions of bank president Paul Wolfowitz have led to allegations of impropriety.

QUOTE: What's clear is this: It is a setback for Wolfowitz's attempt to make a crackdown on corruption a hallmark of his tenure at the World Bank. And such an effort is sorely needed, say experts in economic development. "We should be extremely concerned about the prevalence of corruption in our world," says Frank Vogl, cofounder of the watchdog group Transparency International in Washington.

 Christian Science Monitor
Apr 19, 2007 Wolfowitz Case Offers Lessons on Workplace Ethics

QUOTE: Personal and romantic relationships inevitably form in the workplace. But when one individual is in a supervisory position, Toffler says, it's critical that the situation be made known to higher-ups and one or the other be reassigned by an objective third-party to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

 Smart Money
Apr 15, 2007 Wolfowitz Clashed Repeatedly With World Bank Staff: Tenure as President Has Been Rocky

QUOTE: [Wolfowitz] insisted on retaining retain "professional contact" with her -- something that the executive board later determined was a clear conflict of interest under personnel rules. The Riza issue has come back to haunt Wolfowitz, as the bank's executive board is now considering what to do about revelations -- contained in documents it released Friday -- that Wolfowitz resolved the issue by personally arranging a bank salary and promotions for her in a temporary State Department post.

 Washington Post
Apr 12, 2006 World Bank Strategy Targets Corruption: Plan Aims to Clean Up Bribe-Taking Countries

QUOTE: Although the tough anti-corruption talk has drawn plaudits for Wolfowitz, his strategy could conflict with other bank objectives, notably giving countries more control over their development plans. Moreover, it is unclear how many developing countries will welcome the bank's offer to help them beef up their anti-corruption efforts and how many will view it as an intrusion into an internal domestic matter.

 Washington Post
Jan 07, 2006 World Bank Cuts Off Aid To Chad in Oil Dispute: Nation Won't Yield On Pipeline Revenue

QUOTE: World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz announced yesterday that he is suspending all of the bank's aid to Chad, taking a hard line in the first major test of his pledge to fight corruption.

 Washington Post
Dec 14, 2005 Is the Pentagon spying on Americans? Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups

QUOTE: ...the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups....the Pentagon now collects domestic intelligence that goes beyond legitimate concerns about terrorism or protecting U.S. military installations, say critics.

 MSNBC
Nov 29, 2005 Air Force Erred With No-Bid Iraq Contract, GAO Says

QUOTE: The Air Force, under pressure from the Pentagon, committed a "gross error" last year when it rushed to sign a no-bid contract for advisers to help plan and implement Iraq's national elections and draft its constitution, the Government Accountability Office has ruled.

 Washington Post
Dec 21, 2004 FBI Agents Allege Abuse of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

QUOTE: Detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were shackled to the floor in fetal positions for more than 24 hours at a time, left without food and water, and allowed to defecate on themselves...

 Washington Post
Jan 18, 2004 A Dishonest War

QUOTE: The most fundamental decision a president ever makes is the decision to go to war. President Bush violated the trust that must exist between government and the people.

 Washington Post
Jul 19, 2003 In Sketchy Data, Trying to Guage Iraq Threat

QUOTE: ...American intelligence officials and senior members of the administration have acknowledged that there was little new evidence flowing into American intelligence agencies in the five years since United Nations inspectors left Iraq...

New York Times
Jan 13, 2002 Muslim Separatists Terrorize Filipinos With Kidnappings for Money and 'Marriages'

QUOTE: ...the Abu Sayyaf movement...has carried out massacres, bombings and beheadings on the islands of Basilan and Jolo. Its members are known for rape and for forced "marriages" with women they take hostage.

 New York Times

21 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 1]