The difference between statesmen and mere politicians lies, above all, in their sense of responsibility. George W. Bush has been given an opportunity to demonstrate that virtue in his nomination of a new president of the World Bank. His instincts will be to nominate an American mediocrity. But his interests lie in nominating a person who is neither mediocre nor American. Such a candidate exists: he is Ernesto Zedillo, Mexico's former president.

The tradition that the US nominates the president of the World Bank and the Europeans the managing director of the World Bank is indefensible. A superior approach would be to initiate a transparent search for the best candidate in the whole world. Not only would this be better for the institutions, but it would also be better for the US and Europe. It is far more important to these countries for the institutions to be competently led than for them to be led by fellow nationals.