The race is on to choose the successor of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the head of International Monetary Fund (IMF) as pressure mounted on the international agency to force him to resign after his arrest on sex assault charges.

The most pressing issue for the IMF right now is the European debt crisis. If a Western European politician replaces Strauss-Kahn, he or she will likely be able and willing to continue the IMF’s policy of bailing out peripheral euro zone members.

If a non-Western European replaces Strauss-Kahn, his or her ability and willingness to orchestrate the bailouts may be more limited.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is one of the leading European candidates for the job. Other European candidates are Axel Weber, the head of Europe's bailout fund, Klaus Regling, and Peer Steinbrueck, a former German finance minister.

The strongest emerging market candidate is Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who is the deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission and a former IMF and World Bank official.

Below is a list of potential candidates to succeed Kahn at the Washington-based institution if he quits.

Fan Gang, director of Chinas National Institute of Economic Research, listens during an interview in Hong Kong October 25, 2007.
Fan Gang, director of China's National Institute of Economic Research, listens during an interview in Hong Kong October 25, 2007. REUTERS
India IMF International Monetary Fund International Monetary Fund