 In a 2016 interview, Birdsell said that the establishment of the CGD coincided "with a shift in thinking among US politicians" in which they began to accept the idea that nurturing stable and prosperous countries overseas, would result in "direct benefits" to the United States—an idea that underpinned the work of the CGD.She served as CGD president until 2016 and remained as Senior Fellow and President Emeritus.In 2006 Birdsall published the online version of "Rescuing the World Bank