Daily Archives: May 26, 2011

One Conspiracy Theory Too Many

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These last few weeks have seen more than one fall from grace for prominent men. There is a serious competition for who has fallen the fastest! Under normal circumstances ex-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would grab the prize. In a unique script, Maria Shriver went on the Oprah show to tell her side of the drama  – a story worthy of a Jackie Collins novel.

Yet, having been in Paris for the last few days, the Schwarzenegger story is totally overwhelmed by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn or DSK story.  This is a scandal that reverberates well beyond just the $3000 hotel room in NYC:  serious implications for the running of the IMF; the spillover of the debt crisis in Greece and other European countries; and the impact of one of the scandals on presidential politics in France.

The DSK story can be framed as an elite controversy, complete with a supportive wife (Anne Sinclair) who is a celebrity in France in her own right. But the controversy also reveals societal attitudes: whether described as an accusative or abuse of power theme; or a defensive – “he was framed by some unknown forces” – theme.

But in Europe these serious moral missteps have a competitor. This is the scandal of a Manchester United player who reputedly not only had an affair with a minor celebrity but tried to have his lawyers gag the UK media from publishing the allegations, only to be ‘outed’ by thousands of Twitter feeds – an interesting twist itself given the attention supposedly of the G8 on the Internet.

The magnitude of this story is enlarged by the fact that Manchester United is playing in the Champions League Final this weekend against Barcelona. What jumps out for this Celebrity blogger is the fundamental difference between the two teams in terms of image projection. Before turning to AON in 2009 – a large insurance company – Manchester United was sponsored by AIG – another large insurance company and one the biggest ‘stars’ of the 2008 financial crisis.

Barcelona by contrast has UNICEF on the team jersey. This has led to some jibes by other teams about the advantages of this ‘good guy’ status – an attitude most recently expressed by the Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho’s – who alleged that the UNICEF sponsorship led the European football association to favor Barcelona.  This conspiracy view (no less that in the DSK case) appears to this Celebrity blogger as rather ridiculous! Support for a UN organization and worthy causes should be applauded. However, even Barcelona may suffer a fall from grace as its sponsorship by UNICEF runs out next year.

Another Priority Topic

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It wasn’t on the original agenda – again.  But it has gripped discussion – okay maybe gossip –  here at the international media center (IMC): the nomination of Christine Lagarde for the IMF top post and whether this nomination is a “slam dunk” or will the newly emerging states resist the European effort to name her the managing director.

The G8 leaders are in a bit of box.  The calendar is not in their favor.  If this were a G20 assemblage as opposed to a G8 summit, there would be less of a dilemma.  Leaders would then include China, Brazil and India especially but also Korea, Indonesia and Turkey – newly emerging market states.  A public statement in such a meeting, were it to come, would represent a broader expression of opinion and policy than is possible at the G8 with only the traditional leaders in attendance.

But there is no G20 meeting.  It is a G8 gathering of leaders and the host is France. Needless to say President Sarkozy is a strong advocate for the accession of Lagarde.  And there is little doubt that the host will seek to encourage a statement of support for her.

Such a statement would be a mistake I fear.  There is strong sentiment in the large emerging market countries that alternative nominations – including those from the emerging market countries – such as Augustin Carstens,  the Mexican central bank head, Trevor Manuel former finance minister of  South Africa and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the current finance minister of Singapore – be promoted.  These countries do not want to simply accede to the French effort to promote the current finance minister of France.

The bottom line – a collective expression of G7/8 support would appear to sanction “same old; same old”.  The G7/8 should avoid this even if Largarde is the right candidate – at least for now.