The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank: from institutional anchors of liberalism to geopolitical rivalry

Abstract

The IMF and the World Bank are not only amongst the world's most powerful international institutions, but they also represent the most visible institutional anchors of the liberal post-Second World War order. This may be about to change because the IMF and the World Bank are economic institutions and, thereby, bound to reflect global economic realities. And, from an economic perspective, these realities have for quite some time indicated a world that increasingly moves in a multipolar direction. The turn to economic multipolarity has followed in the wake of increased Great Power rivalry between the United States and China. This chapter charts out these developments and how they have affected and IMF and the World Bank, and what consequences this may have for these institutions and the type of global leaderships that they seek to set.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank: from institutional anchors of liberalism to geopolitical rivalry