Since 9/11, many have observed that global security depends upon improving conditions for the world's poor. But how to make that happen? No institution has grappled harder with this challenge than the World Bank. Drawing on some 200 interviews, including twenty hours of discussions with World Bank President James Wolfensohn, Washington Post editorial columnist and former Council Fellow Sebastian Mallaby takes readers inside the world's premier development institution. The World's Banker brings to life some of the bank's battles, from the reconstruction of Bosnia to the 1997 Asian crisis, to the battle against AIDS and the push to attain the Millennium Development Goals. And it maps the bank's evolution away from the macroeconomic focus of the "Washington Consensus" to a broader understanding of development that considers corruption, democratic participation, and the quality of political institutions. For the growing circle of people who care about international development, here is a book that explains the 800-pound gorilla of the field.

The explanation is at times unsettling. Mallaby's account shows how hard it is for a big multilateral institution to be effective. Rich countries are forever saddling the World Bank with new mandates, declaring one year that its priority must be universal education and the next year that it must concentrate on AIDS, and undermining its focus in the process. Nongovernmental groups complicate the bank's efforts, too, mounting campaigns against its projects that are sometimes dishonest and unscrupulous.

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The World's Banker is at once a portrait of an intellectual quest for ways to turn a sliver of the rich world's plenty into progress against poverty and a case study in the frustrations of the global system. Never has the bank's work been more important, more in the public eye, or more controversial than it is today, when the emergence of terrorist sanctuaries in failed states have dramatized the connection between development and security. And never has the place of multilateral institutions in U.S. foreign policy been so politically contested. Mallaby parlays his extraordinary access to the World Bank and its leader into a revealing account of the challenges and contradictions of the West's efforts to enlarge the world's wealth. The result is a smart narrative joyride written by an author who combines enthralling storytelling with fresh and incisive analysis.

World Bank (Subject); Wolfensohn, James (Subject)

Pros: engaging account of the life of James Wolfensohn; glimpse of political/financial interconnections
Cons: irresponsible brush off of criticism; a naive view of the political functions of the bank; glaring omission of many important events ( )

Lots of good history about the Bank but I couldn't help but feel it was a big apology. Although some criticisms of the Bank were addressed, it felt a little too sanguine about the Bank. ( )

Both my parents worked for the World Bank, and they feel this is one of the best books about IBRD. It's much more a biography of the Wolfensohn years than it is of Wolfensohn (although it does include accounts of him at the Olympics, Carnegie Hall, etc). Mallaby writes in a very readable, well informed style, and the book is mostly a pleasure to read. ( )