Refashioning the Role of the IFIs: How Changes to the Global Balance of Power May Bring the Bretton Woods Institutions to an Existential Crossroads

Abstract

This paper traces how the purpose of the Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank, IMF, and WTO) has changed throughout the 20th Century, explores whether its purpose must change with the rising economic power of emerging markets, and provides two alternative possibilities for how each institution can remain relevant.