International Organizations

Germany steps up in the Western Balkans. Will the EU follow its lead? 

By Damir Marusic, Maja Piscevic, Jörn Fleck

Thursday's Western Balkans summit is a sign of momentum for regional economic cooperation and integration—and it couldn't come at a more important time.

Putin’s failing Ukraine invasion proves Russia is no superpower

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's failing Ukraine invasion has dramatically undermined the credibility of modern Russia's Great Power pretensions and exposed the dysfunctional reality behind the Kremlin's claims to superpower status.

The global infrastructure financing gap: Where sovereign wealth funds and pension funds can play a role

By Amin Mohseni-Cheraghlou and Naomi Aladekoba

Having more than $65 trillion in assets, institutional investors such as SWFs and pension funds are uniquely positioned to bridge low-income economies’ infrastructure financing gap in the coming decades. The Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) can encourage investment in developing countries’ infrastructure through providing various guarantee and insurance mechanisms, thereby reducing risk for private investors.

How to respond if Putin goes nuclear? Here are the economic and political options.

By Brian O’Toole, Daniel Fried

Conversations about responding to Russian nuclear use should not end with military options. Here's an economic plan for the West to respond.

AC Selects: Addressing Jordan and Egypt’s economic challenges and China’s unprecedented third term presidency

Last week, Jordan’s Minister of Finance, Mohamad Al-Ississ and Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala H. Elsaid sat down with the EmpowerME initiative to discuss challenges and potential areas of growth for their economic and financial sectors. The GeoEconomics Center and Global China hub hosted two panels of experts to examine the 20th […]

Modernizing the Bretton Woods Institutions for the twenty-first century

By Ajay Chhibber

The challenges that led to World War II have resurfaced and created the dire need for reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions. A new system to address these challenges requires the three core "Rs"—a revised global remit, an enhanced resource base, and a mandate to monitor agreed-upon global rules.

Changing Bretton Woods Institutions: How non-state and quasi-state actors can help drive the global development agenda

By Nisha Narayanan

This new report examines the increasingly influential role of non-state and quasi-public actors in global development and sustainable finance, specifically through the rising level of sustainable investments in emerging and development markets.

How China would like to reshape international economic institutions

By Victor Shih

Despite its size, China has an inadequate voice in traditional Bretton Woods Institutions. This paper examines aspects of the dissatisfaction China has with existing global governance institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also discusses the proposed changes to these institutions according to discussions with Chinese experts.

The evolution of the IMF: A case for IMF 1.5 before Bretton Woods 2.0

By Hung Tran

Bretton Woods Institutions will face enormous challenges going forward. While ambitious reforms are needed, its unlikely they will be seriously considered due to high geopolitical tension and mistrust among major countries. Nevertheless, the need for reform is pressing. Therefore, it is important to look at more feasible reform, narrower in scope and technocratic in nature, to improve the these institutions.