Paul Wolfowitz has been shown the door at The World Bank. But there is one interesting angle to the story that I had missed until Lilly (in England) pointed out there were stories (at least in the UK papers) about Mr. Wolfowitz’s expletive-laced reaction to the investigation about his involvement with his girlfriend Shaha Riza’s transfer and pay raise.
The Guardian ran a story — apparently based on an internal investigation conducted at the World Bank about Mr. Wolfowitz’s behavior — that reported:
Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international
leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: "If they
fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too."
The Guardian reported that "The angry comments attributed to Mr Wolfowitz came from damning
testimony by Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the bank, who
provided investigators with his notes of a meeting with Mr Wolfowitz
last year."
I always take press reports — especially those likely based on leaks from political enemies — with a grain of salt. But if this report is accurate, it may help explain why (in addition to political differences) the staff of the World Bank was so eager to send Wolfowitz packing. He sounds like a flaming asshole, and other elements of the story suggest (again, if they are accurate), that he showed some of the classic dysfunctions that people in power suffer from, which I’ve discussed here before, and are so well-documented in academic research:
1. He was focused on satisfying his own needs — in this case, his girlfriend’s needs.
2. He was oblivious to (or didn’t care about) his underlings reactions and opinions.
3. He acted like the rules didn’t apply to him — Guardian quotes the report as saying ""Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply."
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