Paul Wolfowitz Biography

A crucial figure in post-Cold War foreign and security policy, Paul Wolfowitz is the former President of the World Bank and former US Deputy Secretary of Defense of Policy. Throughout his more than three decades as a public servant, ambassador and educator, including 24 years in government service under seven US presidents, he has maintained his longstanding quest to promote democracy overseas with US strategic national security and geopolitical interests. As a global strategist, he has an extensive range of practical experience in the developing world, primarily focusing on the Middle East, Asia, and Africa as emerging international markets.

As President of the World Bank, Wolfowitz sought to give special emphasis to two particular issues: identifying Sub-Saharan Africa as the region most in need of improving living standards and challenging the culture of corruption throughout the world. He developed measures to reduced opportunities and incentives for corruption while determining financing and support for global projects.

As a public servant, Wolfowitz served three years under Secretary of State George Shultz as Ambassador to Indonesia, the fourth most-populous country in the world and largest in the Muslim world. During his tenure in that country, he was known for reaching out to all elements of society and for his advocacy of reform and political openness. Under his leadership, the embassy in Jakarta was officially recognized as one of the best-managed US diplomatic missions in the world.

Wolfowitz also served as head of the US State Department’s Policy Planning Office and as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, where he worked directly with the leaders of more than 20 countries. In that position, he played a key role in supporting the peaceful transition to democracy in the Philippines. He also worked to help improve US relations with China, strengthen alliances with Japan and Korea, and lay the groundwork for the subsequent democratic transition in Korea.

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed Wolfowitz to the post of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he played a role in planning for the successful liberation of Kuwait, including organizing the fundraising effort that raised $50 billion in multilateral support. He also collaborated on the US administration’s nuclear arms reduction initiative in 1991.

As Deputy Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001-2005, Wolfowitz’s responsibilities included oversight of the budget process as well as development of policy to respond to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

As a scholar and intellectual, Wolfowitz also has been a leader in higher education. He served as Dean and Professor of International Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University. Before that, he taught political science at Yale University. He has written widely on foreign policy, diplomacy and national security, and was a member of the advisory board of Foreign Affairs.

Currently, Wolfowitz serves as Chairman of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board, which is tasked with providing “independent insight and advice on all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy.” He also serves as a visiting scholar at the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute.

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