Bretton Woods Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bretton Woods Institutions - Essay Example Many people regard these post-colonial institutions to help the developing countries. According to Anghie (2002), these institutions define the ‘unique’ relationship, which exists between international organizations and the Third World. These institutions have been developed, in order for technological advancement of different countries from the developing world, and to refine, reinforce, reproduce and manage the statehood of countries from the Third World (Tan, pp. 31, 2011). Although, established with the aim of reconstructing Europe, the World Bank has taken part in many development projects that have occurred in the Third World. World Bank has also provided different loans to these countries, in order for them to establish themselves properly (Chebucto, n.p, n.d). Although these organizations have been created under the UN charter; in practice, they are largely autonomous (Willis, pp. 36, 2005). These institutions, developed some 60 years ago were developed to put an end to the depression, caused by economic problems, as well as the war, and were a beacon of light for many, especially for the development countries. For this purpose, the paper seeks to examine the ways that the institutions have helped the poor countries (Daly, Farley, pp. 318, 2004). However, since there is large criticism surrounding these Bretton Woods Institutions, it is also imperative to discuss the extent that these organizations have been pro-poor over the years. Nonetheless, it is important to discuss the roles of these two sister organizations, before judging their actions. Although, they had been developed for different purposes, their roles have changed dramatically over the ensuing years. The World Bank seeks to provide development assistance. On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) promotes monetary cooperation on an international level through surveying the countries, and lends to those countries, which have a negative position in Balance of Payme nts (BOP). However, their roles often overlap with each other, since they both seek to provide financial assistance, through one way or the other. For example, considering the actions of World Bank and IMF after the economic crisis in Latin America, one would notice that both these organizations help each other in their respective goals (Weiss, Daws, pp. 1, 2006). One can recognize that they have been active in working for the development for the poor through the ways that they have rapidly changed their roles. Aside from maintaining a fixed exchange rate system, which helped poor countries develop economically, the IMF also gave loans to countries, which had balance of payments problems. Most of these problems are experienced by countries, belonging to the Third World, and the repercussions of negative balance of payments are quite magnificent. Hence, in order to correct this situation, short-term loans were provided, during the 1950s. The World Bank sought to develop different cou ntries, by encouraging private investment to flow into the Third World, so that more development could occur in these countries (Weiss, Dawas, pp.5, 2006). Throughout the years, they kept adding more problems to their agenda, so that these problems could be solved. In 1988, the Multilateral Investment