Emerging markets need a game plan. The battle for the International Monetary Fund’s top job is becoming ugly. The old order is asserting itself brazenly, with Europe determined to retain its prerogative of appointing the fund’s managing director. For all the promises made in recent G20 communiques to make the selection process more transparent and merit-based, the Europeans are in effect saying that emerging markets’ time will come – just not yet.

The arguments trotted out for anointing a European are laughable. Speed is of the essence, but surely it is more important to get the right person for the job. The argument that a European head would better manage the debt crisis in Europe, now the focus of the fund’s lending operations, is unworthy of rebuttal.

Emerging markets, led by the Bric countries joined by South Africa, have forcefully argued that it is high time to break Europe’s stranglehold and make the selection process open and transparent. Unfortunately, for all their rising economic might, this episode is proving to be an object lesson for them on the realities of global political jockeying.