[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] (1) Wolfowitz's appointment is not a smart move; (2) Wolfowitz and McNamara: What's the difference - Re: [LISI] Re: Democracy ... (Joseph E. Stiglitz)
- From: sidqy suyitno <sidqy_suyitno@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: sidqy suyitno <sidqy_suyitno@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 06:08:20 -0800 (PST)
** Mailing-List Indonesia Nasional Milis PPI-India www.ppi-india.da.ru **
Bung Moritis, Bung Wisnu, Bung Ikra, Bung Asnawi, dan rekan Netters Yth. la=
innya,
Pandangan saya pribadi tidak mempersoalkan siapa (orang) yang bakal menjadi=
"penguasa tertinggi" di World Bank. Tetapi lebih kepada proses yang "fair"=
menurut ukuran DEMOKRASI (yang selalu diusung Amerika dan negara maju lain=
nya kepada negara2 berkembang).=20
Meskipun Paul Wolfowitz sudah "kenal" lama dengan Indonesia, namun bukan ja=
minan bahwa beliau akan berpihak kepada Indonesia. Sepengetahuan saya yang =
dangkal ini apa yang menjadi kebijakan Amerika selalu mendasarkan kepada "n=
ational interest" mereka tanpa memperdulikan apakah hal tersebut melanggar =
HAM atau DEMOKRASI.
Untuk meramaikan diskusi ini, di bawah ini ada 2 (dua) artikel menarik tent=
ang topik yang sama dari harian The Jakarta Post, 22 Maret 2005. Selamat me=
mbaca.
Salam,
Sidqy LP. Suyitno
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Wolfowitz's appointment is not a smart move[1]=20
Ari A. Perdana[2], Cambridge, Massachusetts
=20
The nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as the World Bank president has been the h=
ottest issue on the international stage for the past few weeks. The story a=
bout Wolfowitz's nomination has outshone the discussions on the Millennium =
Development Goals or appeals to relieve third world debt.
After President George W. Bush confirmed that the U.S government officially=
wants Wolfowitz to lead the Bank last week, he is only one step away from =
the post. As the biggest shareholder of the Bank, the U.S. government virtu=
ally has a prerogative to appoint their man to lead the organization. The U=
.S. and Europe traditionally share the leadership of the Bank and the IMF -=
- the U.S. gets the Bank's presidency while Europe gets the Fund's executiv=
e director post.=20
The problem, however, is that Wolfowitz's nomination has been widely reject=
ed by the other stakeholders. He does not have any experience in the intern=
ational development field, nor does he have a background in economics or ba=
nking. But the more serious concern is that he is perceived as Bush's man.=
=20
Many fear that if he becomes the World Bank president, the Bank's policies =
will be directed by the U.S. government's interests. Developing countries w=
orry that whatever lending or development assistance they receive will be t=
ied to non-development issues such as international security.=20
Unfortunately, the decision-making process in the Bank means that the U.S. =
government's position is very strong. European countries may try to negotia=
te for a rejection or approval option. The probability is quite small, thou=
gh.=20
As a person, Wolfowitz is a great and well-respected man. He is a professio=
nal bureaucrat, an excellent diplomat and a reputable academic. He is known=
as an idealist -- he has a clear vision about democratization and how to s=
pread this vision. Whether or not people agree with his vision and his way =
of spreading it is another story. But even his political opponents respect =
him because of it.=20
When he was U.S. ambassador to Indonesia for three years under the Reagan a=
dministration, both governments were very satisfied with him. During his te=
rm, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta was considered as one of the most effective=
diplomatic missions in the country. The relationship between the two natio=
ns was also of the highest quality.=20
As an academic, he has served as the dean of the Paul Nitze School of Advan=
ced International Studies (SAIS), a school of Johns Hopkins University in W=
ashington, D.C., which is also a well-respected institution.=20
However, there are several reasons why his nomination for the World Bank le=
adership may not be a good thing for the U.S. government, for the instituti=
on and for its other stakeholders.=20
First, the World Bank is an international organization whose core business =
is development. As an expert in defense and international security, the dev=
elopment community knows little about Wolfowitz's vision for international =
development. He may be a professional bureaucrat, but running an organizati=
on like the Bank is different with running the Pentagon.=20
It is debatable whether being an economist or a banker should be a strict r=
equirement for a World Bank president. Senior U.S. politician Alan Metzer a=
rgued that the Bank does not need its leader to be a development expert. It=
already has a lot of such experts. What they need is someone that can be t=
rusted to manage the huge sums of money handled by the Bank.=20
But economist Jeffrey Sachs has a different view. He says that Wolfowitz ha=
s never shown an interest, let alone a commitment, to the Millennium Develo=
pment Goals or global poverty eradication. That is the reason, according to=
Mr. Sachs, why Wolfowitz is not qualified for the position.=20
A second reason is that his nomination by the Bush administration will send=
a signal that the U.S. has an obvious agenda with the organization. The pe=
rception that the World Bank is merely a vehicle for furthering U.S. intere=
sts will become stronger. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, was the =
intellectual architect of the Iraq war. The Iraq war represents heavy bagga=
ge for U.S. relations with the international community, and is also an issu=
e that has created internal divisions. A move by the Bush administration to=
appoint their man to the biggest donor organization could further tarnish =
its image.=20
The Bush administration may not care too much about its image. But I believ=
e the professionals who work in the Bank care about their image. The Bank h=
as been trying hard to maintain its image, which has been deteriorating sin=
ce the rise of the anti-globalization movement in the late '90s. Many World=
Bankers have published various self-criticisms. The Bank has also issued r=
evisions to its development approaches in the past half-century. But if Wol=
fowitz becomes the Bank's president, it would be hard to avoid the percepti=
on that the World Bank will become, in Paul Krugman's words, "an ugly Ameri=
can Bank".=20
For Indonesia, perhaps, Wolfowitz' appointment may not be too bad after all=
. Indonesia gain some benefit from his close ties with the country. However=
, I don't see that his position in the Bank would produce significant added=
value for Indonesia. With or without him, Indonesia is still an important =
stakeholder for the Bank. From the Indonesian perspective, we may be better=
off having Wolfowitz in the inner circle of the Bush administration as our=
relationship with the U.S government is more uncertain than that with the =
World Bank.=20
Lastly, my Harvard professor, who is also a World Banker, once told of an e=
xperience when he had to defend his institution in front of an audience of =
some eight hundred people hostile to the Bank. He said that he could do so =
if deep in his heart he had confidence that he was doing his job profession=
ally, not as a servant of a big country's interests. Such confidence may no=
t be there anymore should Wolfowitz become his boss.=20
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Wolfowitz and McNamara: What's the difference?[3]=20
W. Scott Thompson[4], Sukawati, Bali
=20
President Bush's nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to be president of the World =
Bank, coming hard on his nomination of an ardent opponent of the United Nat=
ions to be America's UN ambassador, was bound to stir up a storm. "Will the=
World Bank now start invading countries?" the wags ask in Washington. It i=
s inevitable that comparisons are drawn with Lyndon Johnson's dispatch of R=
obert S. McNamara, then secretary of defense, to the World Bank in 1967 and=
much reviled for his role in the war in Vietnam. But there is a world of d=
ifference and the comparison demeans McNamara.
McNamara was famous as a "whiz kid" president of the Ford Motor Company bef=
ore Kennedy brought him to Washington in 1961 to run the Pentagon. Forty ye=
ars later and well into his eighties he was still a formidable intellect in=
Washington; at a dinner discussion on environmental issues two years ago I=
watched him checking the figures of the presenter on his own calculator an=
d presenting contrary conclusions.=20
In the Kennedy and Johnson years he dealt routinely with heads of state and=
government and had a standing throughout the world, tarnished as it may ha=
ve been by Vietnam, of which Wolfowitz could only dream. He went on to beco=
me a great force at the World Bank for new approaches to development, inclu=
ding using loan leverage to induce countries to reduce military expenditure=
s.=20
True, he had let his whiz-kid capabilities delude him about the ease with w=
hich America might fight a war in Southeast Asia, which is where the compar=
ison with Wolfowitz begins and ends. But by the time Johnson had sent him t=
o the Bank, he had realized his horrible mistake -- and wanted to undertake=
constructive development work. It was almost contrition.=20
No one would accuse Wolfowitz of stupidity, but the comparison with McNamar=
a is a step-level confusion. Wolfowitz, until Bush, was a mid-level policy =
intellectual, perhaps in history mostly famous (in Bush the father's pentag=
on) for helping to lay the foundations for new American doctrine designed, =
as it turned out, mostly to permit Washington to redesign the Middle East i=
n a way favorable to Israel. He was a student of a great strategist at the =
University of Chicago, Albert Wohlstetter, but there is no academic opus as=
sociated with his career in and out of think-tanks.=20
What he has shown is survival skills, which no one downplays in Washington.=
He skillfully jumped from job to job in the Reagan-Bush years, and then la=
nded a deanship of a small graduate school in Washington affiliated with Jo=
hns Hopkins University. There his survival skills were most notable in the =
alleged covering up of what could have been a career-ending scandal.=20
But leave Wolfowitz's personal life aside; he had at that time endured a di=
vorce and saw the great opportunity for the neo-conservative cause with whi=
ch by then he was intimately associated. No wonder he must have moved mount=
ains to maneuver himself into high position. But this is where the problem =
begins.=20
Wolfowitz entered the Pentagon not only with an agenda but with allies inte=
nt on carrying it out. The papers they had written in the Clinton interval =
derived from the strategies they had devised in the first Bush presidency f=
or an aggressive American military capability particularly in the Middle Ea=
st.=20
Doug Feith, who has now "retired" from the job Wolfowitz held in Bush I, to=
return to his lucrative -- and military-related -- legal practice; and Ric=
hard Perle, long a public supporter and sometime consultant to Israel; with=
Wolfowitz took every opportunity to maneuver American policy into the inva=
sion of Iraq that has led -- whatever else it has done -- to an almost cata=
clysmic fall in American standing and prestige throughout the world. Wolfow=
itz even went so far as to admit that the "weapons of mass destruction" exc=
use for the war was chosen merely as the most convenient handle.=20
Wolfowitz's boss, Don Rumsfeld, arrived without agenda. He was a mechanic o=
f strategy who thought he could fight wars more efficiently with fewer troo=
ps. He just hadn't any idea of what wars and for whom and what. The now not=
orious threesome, Wolfowitz, Perle, and Feith gave him an agenda that he wa=
s only too happy to endorse. Vice president Cheney was on board too, and to=
gether with their frequent guest Ariel Sharon, to whom was virtually delega=
ted control over American middle east policy in the first George W. Bush te=
rm, they pulled the president on board for a long and thankless war.=20
The failures in Iraq are far more those of Wolfowitz than of Rumsfeld. Norm=
ally, it is in the deputy secretary's office that oversight of plans for im=
plementation of programs takes place. The appalling failure to foresee the =
grim war in Iraq once Saddam was toppled, not even having plans to protect =
the infrastructure much less five millennia of priceless museum treasures, =
is Wolfowitz's failure. The garlands of flowers with which American forces =
were to be met, according to the nominee, shows just how little he understa=
nds reality in the third world.=20
So to associate Wolfowitz, who remains unrepentant over the disasters over =
which he presided in Iraq, with McNamara, who arrived at the Bank charged u=
p with innovative ideas for development, is to do a great disservice to tru=
th. Perhaps Wolfowitz can follow McNamara, if he wins acceptance at the ban=
k, in converting great energies to constructive causes. But to consider the=
two Pentagon officials in the same league is to know little of the game an=
d its levels.=20
McNamara was a failed world-class intellectual and statesman who retrieved =
his reputation with great works. Wolfowitz, from a much lower level of impo=
rt, still thinks his invasion of Iraq was the right thing. It's rather an i=
mposition on the World Bank to force it to digest as president a man world-=
class only in his chutzpah.=20
=20
---------------------------------
[1] All contents copyright =A9 of The Jakarta Post. March 22, 2005 http://w=
ww.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=3D20050322.E02&irec=3D1=20
[2] The writer is a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and Internationa=
l Studies, Jakarta, and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Universit=
y, Cambridge, USA. Ari_Perdana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20
[3] Copyright =A9 of The Jakarta Post. March 22, 2005. http://www.thejakart=
apost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=3D20050322.F04&irec=3D3=20
[4] W. Scott Thompson, D. Phil. is Adjunct Professor of International Polit=
ics, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, MA. T=
he views expressed are personal.
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Asnawi Manaf <asnawi2407@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Agenda WB salah satunya memang melemahkan fungsi
negara kalau kita setuju kenapa sekarang kita latah
kritik neo liberal ya? Aneh?...1=DF1=DF??!"?
Kita ini memang serba salah....=20
Tabik
ASNAWI
--- Ikranagara wrote:
>=20
> Maaf, ada salah ketik yang fatal, yaitu dalam bagian
> kalimat ini:=20
>=20
> "... banyaknya imigran dari benua raksasa itu yang
> menyerbu Eropah=20
> disebabkan oleh hancurnya ekonomi di banyak negara
> Eropah."=20
>=20
> bagian itu mestinya berbunyi:
>=20
> "... banyaknya imigran dari benua raksasa itu yang
> menyerbu Eropah=20
> disebabkan oleh hancurnya ekonomi di banyak negara
> Afrika."
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Ikra
>=20
>=20
> --- In LISI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Ikranagara"
> wrote:
> >=20
> > World Bank memang punya program membantu
> pemberantasan kemiskinan=20
> di=20
> > banyak negara miskin, terutama yang di Afrika.
> Yang dikhawatirkan=20
> > para pengeritik kalau nanti Wolfowitz jadi boss
> WB, dana khusus=20
> dan=20
> > besar itu akan dialihkan kepada tujuan membangun
> demokrasi dai=20
> Timur=20
> > Tengah (diawali dengan Iraq) karena memang inilah
> program=20
> terpenting=20
> > AS, dan AS memang membutuhkan dana besar untuk
> disalurkan ke Timur=20
> > Tengah dengan tujuan politik "anti teroris dan pro
> demokrasi" yang=20
> > menjadi pertaruhan besarnya. Arsitek politik Timur
> Tengah AS ini=20
> > adalah Wolfowitz.
> >=20
> > Eropah sangatlah berkepentingan untuk membangun
> ekonomi Afrika,=20
> > karena banyaknya imigran dari benua raksasa itu
> yang menyerbu=20
> Eropah=20
> > disebabkan oleh hancurnya ekonomi di banyak negara
> Eropah.=20
> > Kesimpulan yang banyak dipegang belakangan ini
> tentang kenapa=20
> > terhadi kehancuran itu adalah bahwa bantuan yang
> dilakukan leat=20
> > jalur G to G itu menyebabkan bantuan itu salah
> alamat, bukannya=20
> > kepada rakyat melainkan kepada birokrat
> pemerintahan di Afrika=20
> yang=20
> > terkenal KKN-nya itu. Maka sekarang ada gerakan
> untuk menyalurkan=20
> > dana bantuan ke Afrika itu langsung ke rakyat
> tanpa melewati jalur=20
> G=20
> > to G lagi. Bagaimana caranya, inilah yang sedang
> dirumuskan.=20
> Antara=20
> > lain melalui LSM dan yang semacamnya. Kontrolnya
> tentulah juga=20
> tidak=20
> > lagi oleh pemerintah setempat, melainkan
> monitoring internasional.=20
> > Dengan kata lain, peranan pemerintah dalam urusan
> yang menyangkut=20
> > bantuan ini, termasuk yang dari WB, tidak lagi
> bersifat G to G.
> >=20
> > Apakah terhadap negeri kita pandangan seperti di
> Afrika itu bisa=20
> > dipakai sebagai formula juga? Artinya, bantuan
> dari luar itu=20
> > hendaknya tidak lagi melalui jalur G to G. Hal ini
> perlu=20
> difikirkan=20
> > bersama.
> >=20
> >=20
> > Ikra.-
> >=20
> >=20
> > --- In LISI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Wisnu Nugroho
> wrote:
> > > Saya tidak yakin bahwa apapun yang dikatakan
> Pemerintah=20
> Indonesia=20
> > akan mengubah keputusan presiden
> > > Bush untuk mencalonkan Wolfowitz. Saya membaca
> artikel tentang=20
> > pencalonan ini. Artikel itu
> > > menceritakan bahwa Amerika selalu dengan sengaja
> membocorkan=20
> > pencalonan kandidatnya untuk World
> > > Bank jauh hari sebelum pengumuman pencalonan
> resmi. Tujuannya=20
> > adalah untuk melihat reaksi dunia,
> > > terutama uni-eropa, atas pencalonan tersebut.
> Seperti yang kita=20
> > duga, Uni Eropa "shock" mendengar
> > > pencalonan Wolfowitz dan (juga secara jalur
> informal) menolak.=20
> > Tapi, seperti biasanya Bush, dia
> > > tidak perduli dan tetap saja secara resmi
> mencalonkan Wolfowitz.=20
> > Kalau negara negara eropa yang
> > > sekutu amerika, yang ketempatan pangkalan
> militer amerika, yang=20
> > meminjamkan milyaran $ ke amerika
> > > bisa diabaikan begitu saja, tidak mungkin mereka
> mau mendengar=20
> > Indonesia yang nasibnya tergantung
> > > dengan uang Amerika.
> > >=20
> > > Saat ini kita justru harus berlaku taktis dan
> diam. Paul=20
> Wolfowitz=20
> > pernah jadi duta besar di
> > > Indonesia, dan dia jelas mengerti kondisi dan
> situasi Indonesia.=20
> > Kalau kita punya hubungan baik
> > > dengan dia, akan besar nilainya bagi kepentingan
> Indonesia di=20
> > World Bank. Siapa tahu, Wolfowitz
> > > yang sangat kenal dengan seluk beluk Indonesia
> ini malah bisa=20
> > merumuskan solusi solusi yang baik
> > > untuk masalah masalah ekonomi kita, dan punya
> cukup power untuk=20
> > membuat solusi solusi tersebut
> > > berjalan. Memang dari credentialnya dia mungkin
> bukan yang=20
> > terbaik, tapi yang penting dia kenal
> > > (dan semoga perduli) Indonesia. Ada puluhan
> negara miskin yang=20
> > butuh perhatian World Bank, dan
> > > Indonesia dasarnya berkompetisi dengan negara
> negara miskin lain=20
> > itu untuk mendapatkan "jatah"
> > > perhatian dari World Bank. Fakta bahwa Wolfowitz
> kenal Indonesia=20
> > bisa membuat Indonesia
> > > mendapatkan fokus lebih.
> > >=20
> > > Mungkin negara negara lain punya kepentingan
> untuk menentang=20
> > Wolfowitz, tapi Indonesia sebenarnya
> > > punya kepentingan untuk mendukung dia. Anda mau
> bilang saya=20
> > hipokrit? silahkan. Sebagai warga
> > > Indonesia saya tidak perduli siapa yang jadi
> presiden di Amerika=20
> > dan siapa yang jadi wakilnya di
> > > World Bank. Yang saya perdulikan cuma apa
> dampaknya bagi=20
> > Indonesia, dan terutama bagi rakyat
> > > miskin di Indonesia.
> > >=20
> > > Wisnu
> > >=20
> > > --- Moritis wrote:
> > > > Bapak Syitno dan rekan2 di LISI,
> > > > Bagaimana kalau pemerintah Indonesia dg. resmi
> menulis surat=20
> ke=20
> > World Bank,
> > > > dan menyatakan keberatannya atas Mr. Paul
> Wolfowitz dicalonkan=20
> > menjadi
> > > > Presiden World Bank? Dulu dia Dubes AS di
> Jakarta, jadi=20
> > pemerintah
> > > > Indonesia sudah kenal dia kan? Juga
> pemerintah RI bisa=20
> sekalian=20
> > usul siapa
> > > > sebaiknya jadi Pres. World Bank, seseorang yg.
> dianggap akan=20
> > sungguh2 bisa
> > > > memperbaiki nasib rakyat miskin di Indonesia.
> > > > Salam damai selalu,
> > > > Is Moritis
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
ASNAWI
FB 13 Stadt- und Landschaftplanung
Postadresse: Henschelstra=DFe 2, Raum 226=20
Universit=E4t Kassel, fb13, 34109 Kassel
=09=09
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Other related posts:
- » [list_indonesia] [ppiindia] (1) Wolfowitz's appointment is not a smart move; (2) Wolfowitz and McNamara: What's the difference - Re: [LISI] Re: Democracy ... (Joseph E. Stiglitz)
