Wolfowitz Joins Think Tank as Visiting Scholar

He was an architect of the Iraq war who was forced from the World Bank presidency amid allegations that he improperly acted to benefit his girlfriend. Now, Paul D. Wolfowitz will turn his attention to the relatively calmer waters of Washington intelligentsia, as a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

The conservative think tank announced yesterday that it has hired Wolfowitz, who stepped down from his World Bank post on Saturday, to work on issues of international economic development, Africa and public-private partnerships. The announcement was made by AEI's president, Christopher DeMuth.

As the deputy defense secretary until 2005, Wolfowitz helped oversee planning for the Iraq war. He then moved to the presidency of the World Bank but faced a hostile staff, angry with his role in promoting the 2003 invasion.

His stormy tenure came to an end after his role in arranging a pay raise and a new job at the State Department for his girlfriend, bank employee Shaha Riza, came to light, prompting withering staff criticism and international calls for him to resign.

After careful negotiations, Wolfowitz agreed to leave, and President Bush tapped former trade representative Robert B. Zoellick to replace him. Zoellick took office Sunday.

Wolfowitz has a long association with AEI, serving as an adviser before joining the Pentagon in 2001. He has a long résumé in public service and in academia, as a professor at Yale and at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins.

-- Zachary A. Goldfarb