The Bush administration has turned to one of its most experienced and internationally respected loyalists to restore calm to the World Bank and repair US influence within the institution following the unprecedented ousting of Paul Wolfowitz.

Robert Zoellick, a former deputy secretary of state and US trade representative, is highly regarded in capitals around the world, particularly in Europe, which led the push to force Mr Wolfo­witz to resign. A European official said Mr Zoellick was seen as an “anti-Wolfowitz”: multilateralist, pragmatic and distanced from the ideological neoconservative wing of the Republican party.