“(The) United States would have been keen to get an American to head up the World Bank even if it would not have been an election year in the United States. But this year of course they’re going to be even keener to make sure that he is going to win. Because otherwise President Obama will be accused by Republicans of being soft on foreign policy or soft on defending United States interests abroad or a president that only leads from behind,” he said.

The next World Bank leader may face more pressure than past bank presidents.

“We are now at a time when lots of developing countries in the world have continued to increase economic growth at a time when the United States, Europe and other older economic powers, so to speak, have declined. And of course this has again continued to reinforce the larger trend of developing countries being much more influential in global economic policies these days,” said Erixon.

And, he said, they want that influence to extend to the World Bank.

“Now what we’re seeing is lots of developing countries that are asking for a change in the selection process when the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are going to elect new leaders,” he said.

In fact, there was evidence of that last year when Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as leader of the IMF amid a sex scandal. He was replaced by Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister.