Hugh White is Professor of Strategic Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Center at the Australian National University. He studies Australian strategic and defense policy and the regional and global security issues affecting Australia. He has been an intelligence analyst, a journalist, a senior staffer to Kim Beazley and Bob Hawke, a senior official in the Defence Department, and the first Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). He was the principal author of Australia’s 2000 "Defence White Paper." His recent publications include the Quarterly Essay "Power Shift: Australia’s future between Washington and Beijing" and "The China Choice: Why America should share power."
Instead of opposing its creation, the U.S. should consider joining the bank as a means of guaranteeing that it matches world-class financing strength with world-class environmental practices.