person1943–

Paul Wolfowitz

Disciplines:

Summary

American diplomat and political scientist — Deputy Secretary of Defense under Bush (2001–2005) — World Bank President (2005–2007) — one of the primary architects of the Iraq War decision — who resigned from the World Bank amid a nepotism controversy.

Core Contribution

Creates the neoconservative case for preventive war against WMD-possessing regimes — Wolfowitz's argument (that the combination of rogue regimes and WMD was an existential threat that justified preventive military action) was the intellectual foundation of the Bush Doctrine.

Key Spikes & Highlights

His 1992 Defense Planning Guidance (leaked to the NYT) argued for a post-Cold War strategy of preventing any rival superpower from emerging — the document was repudiated at the time but became the template for actual US policy after 9/11
Was forced to resign from the World Bank after arranging a pay raise and promotion for his girlfriend (a World Bank employee) — a personal ethics failure that damaged his reputation in a way his policy failures had not

Notable Works & Achievements

Defense Planning Guidance 1992

Various articles and policy papers

Historical Influences

Albert Wohlstetter Allan Bloom

Intellectual Lineage

Brooklyn, New York Cornell University of Chicago Reagan State Dept., Bush Pentagon

Contemporaries & Peers

Dick Cheney Donald Rumsfeld Richard Perle

Minds Influenced

Neoconservative foreign policy

Intellectual Posterity

Bush Doctrine Iraq War Wolfowitz Doctrine

Discussing

Paul Wolfowitz

Ask anything about Paul Wolfowitz — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

person1943–

Paul Wolfowitz

Disciplines:

conservatism/neoconservatism

geopolitics/foreign policy

world bank

military/iraq war

Summary

Core Contribution

Key Spikes & Highlights

His 1992 Defense Planning Guidance (leaked to the NYT) argued for a post-Cold War strategy of preventing any rival superpower from emerging — the document was repudiated at the time but became the template for actual US policy after 9/11
Was forced to resign from the World Bank after arranging a pay raise and promotion for his girlfriend (a World Bank employee) — a personal ethics failure that damaged his reputation in a way his policy failures had not

Notable Works & Achievements

Defense Planning Guidance 1992

Various articles and policy papers

Historical Influences

Albert Wohlstetter Allan Bloom

Intellectual Lineage

Brooklyn, New York Cornell University of Chicago Reagan State Dept., Bush Pentagon

Contemporaries & Peers

Dick Cheney Donald Rumsfeld Richard Perle

Minds Influenced

Neoconservative foreign policy

Intellectual Posterity

Bush Doctrine Iraq War Wolfowitz Doctrine

Discussing

Paul Wolfowitz

Ask anything about Paul Wolfowitz — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.