, taking charge of the World Bank on July 1 as its eleventh president is likely to rank as one of his less onerous responsibilities in a long and illustrious career that began with his stint as a law clerk for a US judge in 1982. But the circumstances under which he was nominated by George Bush last month to head the World Bank were unusual. Paul Wolfowitz had to reluctantly step down as president in the wake of his controversial association with a woman employee of the Bank.
Some optimists, pressing for reforms in the World Bank, had hoped that after Wolfowitz's departure, George Bush might settle for a compromise candidate from among the nominees of other member countries. In the end, however, Bush chose Zoellick and stuck to his nomination.
In 2001 also, Bush made no compromise with his choice and decided to appoint Zoellick in his cabinet as the US trade representative.
Those were difficult days for international trade. The successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade talks had paved the way for a new international trading regime in 1995 with the newly created World Trade Organisation at its helm.
But in less than four years, there was a growing demand to further streamline the international trading regime and initiate talks for a new round of trade talks. That move failed in December 1999, when the Seattle talks collapsed without any agreement.
Zoellick entered the international trade scene at this crucial juncture. There were doubts if a fresh round of trade negotiations could begin so soon after the Seattle debacle.
To add to the woes of the US, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 had raised serious doubts to the proposed meeting of trade ministers scheduled for October 2001 in Doha. Full credit should go to Zoellick for having successfully countered the stiff opposition of the developing countries like India and persuading them to agree to a new round of trade talks "" now better known as the Doha Development Agenda.
A close confidant of Bush (a foreign policy advisor as part of a group that called itself The Vulcans and included Condoleezza Rice), Zoellick made sure that the new trade round got started and, at the same time, China became a member of the WTO.
It is, of course, ironical that just when Zoellick takes charge of the World Bank, his pet project "" the Doha Development Agenda "" appears headed for complete collapse. What role he can play as the World Bank president to revive the Doha round is difficult to gauge at this point of time.
But given his ability to cast his influence far and wide (he had played a friendly role in advising the Japanese government on how to go about privatising its postal services in 2004, for which the Japanese prime minister had to face some embarrassing moments in Diet), Zoellick can surely be expected to use his new office to revive the Doha round.
Soon after taking charge as the US trade representative, Zoellick visited India to understand how the world's largest democracy looked at the multilateral trading system and what stance it would adopt towards a new trade round. Does one assume a Zoellick visit to India soon "" this time as the World Bank president?
