Despite calls from emerging economies to have the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) come from a non-Western European country, Europe still dominates the voting shares for the fund. The decision will ultimately hinge on whether Washington goes with the traditional "gentlemen's agreement" between Europe and the United States to award IMF leadership to a European or whether it supports a candidate form a non-European country. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said May 19 that the United States was in favor of an "open process" for selecting the next managing director, which suggests that Washington is standing behind the emerging nations. The issue is likely to come up at the G-8 summit May 26-27 where U.S. President Barack Obama will be asked by the Europeans whether the American support of an open process is just rhetoric to curry favor with developing nations, or an actual shift in policy. Ultimately, Europe does have a strong upper hand on the bidding because it has coalesced early behind a single candidate — French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde — whereas the emerging world is only united behind the idea of having a non-European, while still being riddled with economic and geopolitical disagreements.
