After all that sturm und drang from countries like Brazil and South Africa about the nominating process for the president of the World Bank, guess what happened?

Nothing.

On Friday, June 15, the deadline passed for board members to nominate alternatives to Robert Zoellick, the U.S. candidate. Nary a peep was heard. Advocates of a more open process tell Reuters they're pleased with the choice of Zoellick, as am I. But that's hardly the point. The Bank ought to practice what it preaches by running a more open selection process. (Chances are, the extremely qualified Zoellick would have emerged near the top of the pile in any case.)

The world's quickness to fold on this issue will lend credibility to what the Bush administration and its acolytes have been saying all along: For all the talk of a world allied against American unilateralism, the United States still gets its way far more often than not.