The guest list for the first Clinton Global Initiative is not exactly a catalogue of 1990s-era Friends of Bill. Sure, Robert Rubin, ex-Treasury secretary, is slated to attend, along with diplomats Richard Holbrooke and Madeline Albright.

But then there is Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon's former neocon-in- residence who now heads the World Bank. Wolfowitz is scheduled to speak this morning at a session called "The critical moment in the fight against poverty".