The World Bank goes Hollywood

It’s long been a normal practice for Hollywood stars to sign up as U.N. goodwill ambassadors. Some have taken an even more involved approach. George Clooney met with the U.N. Security Council several years ago to discuss Darfur. Now, the World Bank is sprinkling the stardust. Timed for this week’s annual meetings, Bank president Robert ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

It's long been a normal practice for Hollywood stars to sign up as U.N. goodwill ambassadors. Some have taken an even more involved approach. George Clooney met with the U.N. Security Council several years ago to discuss Darfur. Now, the World Bank is sprinkling the stardust.

It’s long been a normal practice for Hollywood stars to sign up as U.N. goodwill ambassadors. Some have taken an even more involved approach. George Clooney met with the U.N. Security Council several years ago to discuss Darfur. Now, the World Bank is sprinkling the stardust.

Timed for this week’s annual meetings, Bank president Robert Zoellick is meeting today with model Christy Turlington and actress Anne Hathaway to discuss the education of adolescent girls. Tomorrow, Zoellick will share a stage with Pierce Brosnan to discuss migration. Can the International Monetary Fund be far behind? I nominate Clint Eastwood for a panel on the importance of austerity measures and loan conditionality.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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