To claim the World Bank is just an extension of U.S. foreign policy is just wrong.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
World Bank is a bank that's focused on economic development and poverty alleviation.
Since I came to the World Bank in 2007, I have argued that we must 'modernize multilateralism.'
The problem with the U.S. foreign policy is that we're just so unbelievably powerful. And when you've got that kind of power, it's very hard not to use it.
First of all, the world criticizes American foreign policy because Americans criticize American foreign policy. We shouldn't be surprised about that. Criticizing government is a God-given right - at least in democracies.
It is vital that the World Bank Group continually challenges itself to refresh our development thinking. It is vital that a modernized multilateralism be open to new ideas.
The world is governed by institutions that are not democratic - the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO.
This is the very devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim.
I'm not one of those critics that believes U.S. foreign policy is confused, or stupid, or misinformed, or well-intentioned but it goes awry. I think it's a brilliant policy filled with many brilliant, terrible, horrible victories.
This is the devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim.
The World Bank is now the biggest culprit in the debt crisis.