Chrik Poortman: A World Bank Professional

• Author: Xu Yi‐chong,Patrick Weller
• Date: 01 September 2009
• Published date: 01 September 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02036.x

Chrik Poortman: A World Bank Professional

Administrative

Prof‌i le

Norma M. Riccucci, Editor

Xu Yi-chong

Patrick Weller

Griff‌i th University

Chrik Poortman, an international civil servant, worked

for the World Bank for more than three decades.  is

prof‌i le uses his career and experiences to illustrate the

functions and roles played by World Bank staf‌f at each

level of its “f‌l at” hierarchy and the capacities needed to

face challenges that are unique to their ilk. Each section

explores a dif‌f erent range of functions, including working

as a country director, working as a vice president,

and working as a member of the World Bank’s senior

management team.

On October 26, 2006, a crowd of former

and current Word Bank staf‌f packed

the area outside

the Preston Auditorium in

the Bank’s main complex to

attend the farewell for Chris-

tiaan Poortman, universally

known as Chrik. “ e pain,

the anger and the anguish

were just unbelievable,” recalled one former Bank

staf‌f er. “Meanwhile, there was this pride for this

man who was the best of the institutional insiders,

who would not want to see the institution go down

the drain or his boss screw up his client countries

or his colleagues.” For those in the lower ranks, the

dismay was apparent: “Chrik is of the absolute high-

est integrity; he was not a rebel or def‌i ant or trying

to undermine the president. If this can happen to

someone so smart with such a strong career and

such an institutional guy,” colleagues asked, “what

could happen to me?” “ en and there,” a former

of‌f‌i cial observed, “I just saw the institution reject

Paul Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank.”

Poortman had been vice president for the Middle

East and North Africa (MENA) for three years.

In the 13 months he had served under Paul Wol-

fowitz, there had been a number of disagreements

over Palestine, Iraq, and issues of anticorruption

in general.  e straw that broke the camel’s back

was Lebanon—whether the Bank should have

high-level representation at a donor conference in

Rome, convened by Secretary of State Condoleezza

Rice, to discuss the rebuilding of Lebanon, while

bombing continued with U.S. acquiescence. “To

me this is hypocrisy to the extent of hypocrisy,”

said Poortman. Wolfowitz thought otherwise. Soon

after, Poortman was of‌f ered the position of country

director in Central Asia as a demotion, an insult,

and a way to force him out. Poortman resigned. To

assist in a smooth transition, he was prepared to

stay on for a few more months. Against all norms

and practices, and with a blatant lack of respect, the

Bank president immediately announced a replace-

ment, and Poortman was asked to clear his desk in a

matter of days. Disrespect for

a veteran Bank senior of‌f‌i cial,

the staf‌f in general, and the

institution as a whole led to

the downfall of Wolfowitz.

Respect is what everyone we

interviewed had for Poortman.

Poortman was an international civil servant, work-

ing for a World Bank that provides assistance to

more than 100 countries around the world. Its

staff work with shareholders (donors) and clients

(recipients), all of which are independent sovereign

states. They interact with nongovernmental orga-

nizations and the general public, work with the

poor in the field, and negotiate with the power-

ful in international forums. Like all international

civil servants, they share a number of managerial

functions with their domestic counterparts, but

their tasks are made more complex when they can

only negotiate with, and never dictate to, their

clients. Their power is the power to persuade: with

knowledge, with experience, and with offers of

assistance. International civil servants are thus a

distinct class of public servants whose position and

capacity need to be examined.

 is prof‌i le uses the career and experiences of Poort-

man to illustrate the functions and roles played by

Bank staf‌f at each level of its f‌l at hierarchy and the

Xu Yi-chong and Patrick Weller

are professors in the Centre for Govern-

ance and Public Policy, Griff‌i th University,

Australia. They are joint authors of

Gov-

ernance of World Trade

(2004) and

Inside

the World Bank

(2009).

E-mail: yi-chong.xu@griff‌i th.edu.au,

p.weller@griff‌i th.edu.au

Respect is what everyone

we have interviewed had for

Poortman.

868 Public Administration Review • September | October 2009