Paul Wolfowitz: biography and photos

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943 in New York, USA) is a statesman of the United States, who worked as deputy minister of defense (2001-2005) in the administration of George W. Bush. From 2005 to 2007, he was president of the World Bank.

Paul Wolfowitz: Biography

Wolfowitz's father, an immigrant from Poland whose family died during the Holocaust, taught mathematics at Cornell University in Ithaca, where Paul received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1965. As a young man, he began to take an interest in history and politics, and in 1963 went to Washington To take part in the march for civil rights. Wolfowitz later studied political science at the University of Chicago (graduated in 1972), where one of his teachers was Leo Strauss, a leading figure in neoconservatism.

Moving to Washington

In 1973, Paul Wolfowitz moved to Washington, where he first worked at the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, participating in the negotiations on the limitation of strategic weapons (1973-1977), and then in the Pentagon as deputy assistant to the Minister of Defense (1977-1980) .

During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, he was Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, and then US Ambassador to Indonesia. There, an acquaintance with a moderate Muslim society convinced him to use American military power as a means to promote democracy around the world.

Doctrine of Wolfowitz

Paul Wolfowitz, whose doctrine was formulated in the US Defense Planning Guidelines in 1994-1999, considered the United States the world's only superpower. Its task is to eliminate any hostile force that dominates the region, which is critical for the interests of the country and its allies. The potential threat from Russia is another important topic that Paul Wolfowitz is concerned with. His sayings on this subject are called to remember that democratic changes in Russia are not irreversible and, despite temporary difficulties, the country remains the largest military force in Eurasia, the only one in the world capable of destroying the United States.

Architect of War

In the Bush administration, Paul Wolfowitz worked as deputy minister of defense for political affairs, developing plans for the war in the Persian Gulf (1990-1991) under the leadership of Defense Secretary Dick Cheney (later vice-president in the Bush administration).

He retired from public service, taking up research, teaching at the National Military College in Washington, DC (1993), and worked as dean (1994-2001) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Baltimore, Maryland.

The war in Iraq

In 2001, Paul Wolfowitz returned to politics, becoming Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, he supported the invasion of Afghanistan and was the leading advocate for the subsequent deployment of US troops to Iraq. The latter was controversial, and Wolfowitz was criticized for supporting the conflict.

Management of the World Bank

In 2005, he left the Bush administration to become president of the World Bank. One of his main initiatives was to curb corruption in countries receiving loans from his organization.

To this end, Paul Wolfowitz visited Russia in October 2005. The country's judicial system needed reforms, and the World Bank allocated $ 50 million for this purpose. The same amount was to be allocated from the budget.

In 2007, calls were voiced for his resignation after two years earlier Wolfowitz had arranged for the transfer and promotion of his friend Shahi Riza, who worked at the bank, in the service. He announced his resignation from 30.06.07.

Paul Wolfowitz in ragged socks

As head of the World Bank during a two-day visit to Turkey, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he visited the mosque in Edirne. At the entrance to the Muslim temple, it is customary to take off shoes, which was done by Paul Wolfowitz. President's socks, whose salary was almost 400 thousand dollars, had holes with thumbs looking out of them.

He was not the first time in such a situation. In Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" Paul Wolfowitz spat on the comb before brushing his hair before a television performance.

Guest lecturer

Shortly after retiring from his post at the World Bank in mid-2007, Wolfowitz became guest lecturer at the American Enterprise Institute. He remained faithful to the policy of intervention by the United States, speaking in major American newspapers, on the conservative channel Fox News and at numerous events of the institute.

In February 2015, Wolfowitz became an adviser on foreign policy issues for presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

Sayings about Syria

The civil war in Syria is one of many topics that Paul Wolfowitz pays attention to. His sayings on this occasion were published, for example, in the London Sunday Times. In particular, he wrote that fears about the consequences of the fall of the regime should cause more active support of the opposition, and not an excuse for inaction. The inability to provide the opposition and the opportunity to defend the liberated territories helped to maintain the military advantage of the regime and prolonged the struggle.

In September 2013, Wolfowitz compared the climate in Syria with Iraq after the first war in the Persian Gulf. According to him, Syria is not Iraq in 2003. This is Iraq 1991. In 1991, the United States had the opportunity, without putting the lives of Americans at risk, to support the Shiite uprising against Saddam and achieve success. Instead, the United States sat idle and watched as it kills tens of thousands of people. The US did nothing, although it was very easy to stir up riots in order to succeed. According to him, if this happened, the world would get rid of Saddam Hussein and there would be no second war. Wolfowitz believes that the war in Syria causes more sympathy in the Arab world than even the Arab-Israeli problem, and the US will not incur losses from supporting the Syrian opposition, but will be rewarded for it.

Arab spring

Wolfowitz advocated an aggressive US intervention in the affairs of states affected by the "Arab spring" uprisings, while some of his neoconservative colleagues objected to the idea of promoting democracy in countries such as Egypt. In March 2011, for example, Wolfowitz extolled the intervention of President Obama in Libya.

Statements about Iran

In mid-June 2009, Wolfowitz joined the criticism of President Obama for his alleged "weakness" in the fight against the electoral crisis in Iran. According to him, the reforms, which the Iranian demonstrators are seeking, should have been supported. In such a situation, the United States can not stand aside. The silence of America in itself is the silent support of those who hold power and blame those who protest against the present state of things. It would be a cruel irony if, in an attempt to avoid imposing democracy, the US tipped the scales to the dictators, imposing its will on freedom fighters.

Wolfowitz criticized the nuclear agreement reached in July 2015 between Iran and the big five world powers. According to him, the agreement is inferior to all the requirements of the Iranian regime and provides him with huge additional resources to continue his dangerous activities.